'I Will Not Be Made a Scapegoat,' Says Kerviel

LONDON, Jan. 6, 2008— -- After almost two weeks of silence, "rogue trader" Jerome Kerviel has finally spoken, admitting guilt but warning that he won't be made a "scapegoat" for Societe Generale's $7.1 billion loss.

"I was designated (as solely responsible) by Societe Generale," Kerviel told Agence France Press yesterday during a photo session he arranged because he didn't like the picture of him that was circulating in the press.

"I accept my share of responsibility but I will not be made a scapegoat for Societe Generale," he said.

The trader denied rumors that he had attempted to hide from investigators after Jan.24, when the scandal broke.

"I never thought of running away," he said.

He also dismissed allegations that he was psychologically unstable.

"I am neither suicidal nor depressive," said Kerviel.

In a breezy interview with AFP, the man blamed for world's biggest fraud said that dealing with such large sums of money every day had warped his sense of reality.

"I never had any ambition in this affair," Kerviel said. "The aim was to earn money for the bank."

"You lose your sense of the sums involved when you are in this kind of work. It's disembodied. You get a bit carried away," he said.

Kerviel was posing for an AFP photographer when he agreed to answer some questions.

"Kerviel was smiling," said an AFP manager. "He was in great shape."

According to the French newspaper Le Monde, on Saturday Jan. 19, five days before the news broke, the bank's managers got confirmation that Kerviel had caused massive losses.

Managers tried to make contact with Kerviel, who went away for the weekend to the chic beach resort of Deauville, Normandy.

Hassled by requests from his managers, Kerviel reportedly sent back a text message that read: "I cannot answer. There is no network here."

"That's when we started to worry," managers told Le Monde.

Kerviel has since been charged with hacking into the bank's computer system, breach of trust and use of false documents.

Since the scandal broke, Kerviel has been under 24-hour police surveillance, according to French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde.