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SocGen rogue trader Kerviel fined US$6.4b, jailed for 3 years

Former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel handed three years in jail for his role in France’s biggest rogue-trading scandal on Wednesday and ordered to repay US$6.35 billion.

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French rogue trader Jerome Kerviel (left) flanked by his lawyer David Koubbi arrives at a Paris court on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in France’s biggest rogue-trading scandal on Wednesday and ordered to repay the bank 4.9 billion euros (US$6.35 billion).

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Kerviel, 35, will not go to jail immediately, however, and his lawyer said outside the Paris court that they would study the possibility of a further appeal.

“The appeals court...upholds the ruling,” the judge told Kerviel as he stood in the court.

“Jerome Kerviel was the sole creator, inventor and user of a fraudulent system that caused these damages to Societe Generale,” the court’s written ruling concluded.

In all, Kerviel’s sentence is for five years in jail, two of which are suspended.

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Kerviel was handed down the jail sentence in 2010 for his role in taking huge, risky bets that cost Societe Generale 4.9 billion euros to unwind and damaged the French bank’s reputation, but he submitted an appeal to be acquitted in June.

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