Ex-trader sticks up for Kerviel in fraud trial

Former trader Jerome Kerviel goes on trial Tuesday accused of fraud that cost French bank Societe Generale five billion euros -- but insists that his bosses knew what he was up to.The 33-year-old is accused of gambling away 4.9 billion euros (six billion dollars) in risky deals at Societe Generale, one of France's three largest banks, in what was then considered the biggest trading scandal in history.

French trader Jerome Kerviel hears testimony from his former colleagues on Thursday after an ex-boss at Societe Generale called him a liar who took risks that "no bank in the world could take."The French bank blames Kerviel for losses of 4.9 billion euros (7.1 billion dollars at the time) incurred in one of the biggest rogue trade cases, seen as a symbol of the excesses blamed for the financial crisis.

Former trader Jerome Kerviel goes on trial Tuesday accused of unathorised deals that cost French bank Societe Generale five billion euros in one of the biggest financial fraud scandals in history.The three-week trial pits the 33-year-old Frenchman alone against the huge bank that employed him, to decide whether he is solely responsible in a case seen as a symbol of the banking excesses blamed for the financial crisis.

Former trader Jerome Kerviel goes on trial Tuesday accused of unathorised deals that cost French bank Societe Generale five billion euros in one of the biggest financial fraud scandals in history.The three-week trial pits the 33-year-old Frenchman alone against the huge bank that employed him, to decide whether he is solely responsible in a case seen as a symbol of the banking excesses blamed for the financial crisis.

Trader Jerome Kerviel's former supervisors told a court Monday they were completely unaware of alleged rogue trades that nearly brought down Societe Generale bank, as his trial entered its final week."I did not see the orders he was placing," said Eric Cordelle, who was Kerviel's immediate supervisor on the "Delta One" trading desk where he had allegedly exposed the bank to 50 billion euros in outstanding positions."To check every one of the operations, you had to suspect fraud," Cordelle testified, adding that at the time "no one talked about fraud."