PARIS (Reuters) - A police investigator into the 2008 trading scandal at French bank Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) has told a judge she became convinced managers knew about risky trades made by employee Jerome Kerviel, investigative website Mediapart reported, an assertion promptly denied by the bank.
Jerome Kerviel was sentenced to three years in jail after being convicted by a Paris court in October 2010 for breach of trust and fraud in the loss of billions of euros in trades. He left prison on parole last September with an electronic tag.
Kerviel asserted his managers should have been aware of his actions, something the bank has always strenuously denied.
Mediapart said Nathalie Le Roy, who since the case quit her job as head of the financial crime squad, gave private testimony about the affair last month to a magistrate investigating accusations made by Kerviel against Societe Generale.
"With the various statements and documents I had in my hands, I had the feeling and then the certainty that the hierarchy above Jerome Kerviel could not have been unaware of the positions taken by the latter," Mediapart quoted Le Roy as telling the judge in her statement.
The website said Le Roy alleged that investigators found it hard to obtain evidence such as interviews with staff, emails and testimony from current and former employees who alleged many people internally knew of Kerviel's actions.
It added that Le Roy acknowledged that when she was handed the investigation in January 2008 she lacked knowledge of the world of trading in financial markets.
Reuters could not reach Le Roy and was unable to independently confirm her assertions.
In a statement, Societe Generale said it was "astonished" by the report.
"Societe Generale, which does not have access to the judicial investigation documents, points out that it has filed two complaints for false accusation in response to the two cases brought by Jerome Kerviel," the bank said of legal action brought against it by the former trader, who says he is pursuing a fight against the "tyranny" of high finance.
In response to enquiries, a Justice Ministry spokesman said in an email it was not possible from a procedural point of view to re-open the original case against Kerviel at the present time but declined further comment.
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