Post date: Apr 27, 2012 5:31:54 PM
PARIS, FRANCE (APRIL 27, 2012) (REUTERS) - Former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel, who is appealing against a three-year prison sentence for his role in France's biggest rogue trading scandal, plans to sue his former employer for alleged forgery and manipulation of evidence.
Sufficient elements exist to file a complaint against Societe Generale for forgery and use of fake documents, rogue trader Jerome Kerviel's lawyer says
The 35-year-old Kerviel, who told journalists on Friday (April 27) he had gone through "hell" since the revelation in 2008 that SocGen had lost 4.9 billion euros ($6.48 billion) unwinding his risky bets, said that audio recordings used as evidence at his 2010 trial had been tampered with.
If the lawsuit gets filed on Friday it will be the second in as many weeks levelled by Kerviel at SocGen ahead of his appeal slated for June 4. Last week, Kerviel's lawyer David Koubbi filed a suit against SocGen for obtaining a verdict under false pretences.
"We are in a situation which is reprehensible in which the Societe Generale itself handed over some elements that had never been used by the investigators, and up until the unsealing of this information, which took place last week, we did not know that this element had been smuggled. This justifies the reason why we handed over a complaint to the prosecutor the which took place last given to the justice which we did not know about. We found out last week that some elements of the file case had been smuggled and that justifies filing a complaint for forgery and use of fake documents," Koubbi said.
The sharply dressed, media-savvy Koubbi is known for representing high-profile clients like actress Isabelle Adjani and Tristane Banon, the writer who last year accused former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape in 2003.
Kerviel, who has never denied he covered up his massive trading positions but has always claimed his superiors knew what he was doing, said he was confident the fresh evidence would help him win his appeal.
"These last four years have been hell," he said.
"My name has been sullied for four years now. But I still don't understand why this file case is named "Kerviel" and not "Societe Generale" as I know and it is obvious in view of what the file contains that my bosses knew everything that I was doing and the bank knew what I was doing," Kerviel said.
SocGen, France's second-biggest listed bank, had no immediate comment to make. It said last week it would countersue for "false accusation" and promised to develop its position once Kerviel's appeal begins on June 4.