Trader in Societe Generale scandal is released from jail

PARIS —  Jerome Kerviel, the Frenchman blamed by his company for the world’s biggest rogue trading scandal, left jail Tuesday after winning a legal battle against detention.

Kerviel, 31, walked free from the Sante prison in Paris after five weeks in custody while investigators continue to probe heavy losses at French bank Societe Generale.

Under the terms of his conditional release, there are strict limits on his movements and contacts.

Societe Generale unveiled 4.9 billion euros ($7.64 billion) of trading losses on Jan. 24 and blamed them on unauthorized stock market deals carried out by Kerviel, a junior trader at the bank.

Looking relaxed in a dark suit and open-necked pink shirt, the former trader stepped onto a Paris side street accompanied by his lawyer, Elisabeth Meyer.

Kerviel did not speak to reporters but paused and smiled briefly for cameras and was driven off in a small black car.

“He’s going to take a rest,” Meyer told reporters.

Kerviel is under formal investigation for alleged breach of trust, computer abuse and falsification.

He has acknowledged trading without approval but has told police that his supervisors must have known of his activities.