French trader Kerviel seeks release on bai 05/03/2008 00:00

Legal sources claim that French trader charged in a 4.9-billion-euro scandal at Societe Generale bank is seeking release on bail.

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   PARIS, March 4, 2008 (AFP) - The French trader charged in a
4.9-billion-euro (7.1-billion-dollar) scandal at Societe Generale bank is
seeking release on bail in a request to be examined next week, legal sources
said Tuesday.
   Jerome Kerviel, 31, has been in custody for the last month during an
investigation into what Societe Generale says were unauthorised trades worth
at least 50 billion euros -- more than the leading French bank's own capital.
   He is charged with breach of trust, fabricating documents and illegally
accessing computers, but escaped the more serious charge of fraud.
   Legal sources said his application for bail would be examined on March 14.
   While Kerviel has insisted he acted alone, he has suggested that his bosses
knew he was dealing with huge sums of money but turned a blind eye as long as
he was not in the red.
   The scandal led to a 3.35-billion-euro (4.9-billion-dollar) loss for the
bank in the fourth quarter of 2007.
   An internal bank inquiry found that Kerviel's allegedly unauthorised
trading had not been detected because of his sophisticated techniques, but it
also pointed the finger at internal audit and risk control failures.

AFP