Rogue trader Jerome Kerviel loses appeal over jail and €4.9b fine

An appeal by the man behind France's biggest rogue-trading scandal against a three-year jail term and a €4.9 billion (HK$49 billion) fine was rejected by a court in Paris yesterday.

The court upheld the five-year jail sentence handed down to Jerome Kerviel in 2010, two years of which were suspended, and confirmed he had to pay back the billions his gambles cost the bank Société Générale, which was brought to the brink of collapse by the fraud. Kerviel "was the sole creator, inventor and user of a fraudulent system that caused these damages to Société Générale," the court said in its ruling.

A nervous-looking Kerviel, who chewed his nails as he heard the verdict, was not forced to go to jail immediately. A separate judge will decide the precise terms of his sentence and how many hours he spends behind bars every day, a process that lawyers say could take weeks. Kerviel left quickly without making any comment to the media scrum outside the courtroom. His lawyer, David Koubbi, condemned what he called a "lamentable injustice" and said he may appeal to a higher court.

Société Générale welcomed the ruling. Its lawyer, Jean Veil, said it showed "the full and entire guilt of Mr Jerome Kerviel". Veil added that the bank would be "realistic" as regards getting its lost money back. The sum is equivalent to what Kerviel, currently unemployed, might earn over 370,000 years if he started working for the French minimum wage.

Lawyers for Kerviel, 35, had argued at his appeal hearing in June that he should be acquitted. Denouncing his conviction as a "farce", they insisted the bank knew he was making uncovered bets on futures markets.

But prosecutor Dominique Gaillardot urged the court to make an example of Kerviel, describing him as "perverse and manipulative". Calling for a maximum five-year term, Gaillardot argued: "Your decision will be an example and a deterrent."