Jerome Kerviel charged over $7.96b loss at Societe Generale | Herald Sun

Jerome Kerviel charged over $7.96b loss at Societe Generale | Herald Sun

The trader turned himself in to police on Saturday to answer accusations from the bank that he falsified documents and gained unauthorised computer access to circumvent risk-management controls.

Mr Kerviel's lawyers yesterday accused the bank of turning him into a scapegoat and trying to "create a smokescreen" to cover up wider losses from the US subprime mortgage crisis.

They argue Societe Generale brought the losses on itself by hastily selling off Mr Kerviel's positions last week after discovering his trades and hedges on share futures.

Mr Kerviel had held positions worth about 50 billion euro ($A83.96 billion) when he was caught - well in excess of the bank's market value of 35.9 billion euro ($A60.29 billion) and its shareholder funds.

Within days, Societe Generale moved to unwind his deals, incurring losses of 4.9 billion euro ($A8.23 billion).