Rogue trader Kerviel begins 3-year stint in French prison

Six years after his first arrest, French rogue trader Jerome Kerviel has begun a three-year prison term for his role in the near collapse of Societe Generale bank.

After a weekend of high drama in which he had threatened to stay in Italy in a bid to get president Francois Hollande to intervene in his case, the 37-year-old finally surrendered to police at midnight after crossing the border at the Riviera town of Menton.

After an overnight stay in a police station there, he was transferred yesterday to a prison in nearby Nice.

The ex-trader brought one of Europe’s biggest banks to the brink of bankruptcy in 2008 with wildly risky trades which resulted in a loss of €4.9bn. Kerviel was convicted in 2010 of breach of trust, forgery and entering false data in relation to the unauthorised trades. His conviction and three-year prison term were upheld in March but an appeal court overturned an order that he pay damages equivalent to the bank’s losses.

The prosecutor in Nice, Eric Bedos said Kerviel “is being detained in the prison at Nice until further notice.”

He has become something of a cause celebre in France, winning support from prominent left-wingers and figures in the Catholic Church who believe he has been unfairly made a scapegoat for the shortcomings of the entire banking system.

Kerviel has recently become fond of portraying himself as a simple soul caught up in an orgy of greed who has now recognised the error of his ways.

“Everyone is fed up with this system,” he said at the weekend. “I am here to denounce the system and I have a lot of people who want to join me in that.

“I’m ashamed to have been a part of this system. I was a jerk at the time and I am going to spend the rest of my life testifying to that.”

Kerviel had been ordered to present himself at a French police station by Sunday at the latest in order to begin his prison term.

He finally complied with the order having said at the weekend he would stay in Italy until he got a response to his request for Hollande to intervene in the case.

Kerviel said he would not seek a presidential pardon but had asked Hollande to grant immunity to potential witnesses who could testify in his favour.