SocGen Trader Headed for Jail

A Paris court ruled today that rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel should be behind bars during the remainder of the investigation into his case, the New York Times reports. Kerviel is suspected of fake trading that cost French bank Société Générale $7 billion. When he heard the ruling, Kerviel looked like “the sky had fallen on his head,” said an opposition lawyer.

It remains unclear whether Kerviel’s crimes were solo endeavors. French police brought a broker for SocGen affiliate Fimat in for questioning yesterday; sources say he is 32-year-old Moussa Bakir. They claim prosecutors hold new evidence in the case—text messages between Kerviel and Bakir. “You have done nothing illegal in terms of the law,” Bakir wrote to Kerviel in November. (More Fimat stories.)