PARIS, April 20 (Reuters) – Ex-Societe Generale
trader Jerome Kerviel, who is appealing a three-year prison
sentence for his role in France’s biggest-ever rogue trading
scandal, is suing his former employer for allegedly obtaining a
verdict under false pretences, his lawyer said on Friday.
SocGen, France’s second-biggest listed bank, swiftly reacted
by saying it would countersue for “false accusation” and would
develop its position once Kerviel’s appeal begins on June 4.
Kerviel — who was also ordered in 2010 to pay 4.9 billion
euros ($6.47 billion) to SocGen to make up for the losses that
almost brought the French bank to its knees — has never denied
he lied to cover up his risky bets but has always claimed his
superiors knew what he was doing.
“We filed a complaint against Societe Generale today for
obtaining a verdict under false pretences,” David Koubbi,
Kerviel’s lawyer, told Europe 1 radio on Friday.
“We hope the complaint will be favourably accepted.”
SocGen said it acknowledged the filing of the complaint and
said a countersuit would be filed “in the briefest of delays”.
Obtaining a verdict under false pretences means that a party
has either provided false evidence or hidden contradictory
information to get a favourable verdict, according to
Paris-based lawyer Mabrouk Sassi.
“It’s a criminal charge and that gives additional powers to
the judge such as the ability to order searches,” he said.
“We’ll have to wait and see but maybe the lawyer is saying
that SocGen has information that it wishes to keep secret that
might clear Kerviel.”
($1 = 0.7571 euros)
(Reporting by Matthieu Protard and Lionel Laurent)
