French police seize trader

A French banker accused of orchestrating one of the biggest banking frauds in history has been taken into custody.Jerome Kerviel, 31, went on the run after being named as the rogue trader who lost the Société Générale bank £3.7 billion.Kerviel has yet to be formally sacked by the bank but police raided his office and his home in a bid to piece together what is said to be an elaborate financial crime.He was taken into custody after a manhunt and is being questioned by detectives in a Paris police station.Officers have 24 hours before they are required to charge the suspect or release him.The bank said Kerviel managed to rack up the huge losses after gambling on the direction of stock markets in a series of secret transactions.The group discovered late last week that unauthorised and hidden trading positions had been set up last year and early this year.It said the trader had since confessed to the "exceptional fraud" and was in the process of being dismissed, along with four or five managers.Société Générale described its losses as "colossal" but said the fraud would not break the bank.Chairman and chief executive Daniel Bouton said he believed Kerviel was acting alone.He said: "I don't know the person and his motives are totally irrational."It doesn't seem that he was able to benefit from these colossal trades and directly he did not, that is for sure, although investigations will have to be carried out."© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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ITN | January 26, 2008

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