'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.

"This boy is under the pressure of the media and other people who seek to obtain his confidence," Lagarde told RTL radio yesterday. "It is natural that he should be protected."

Kerviel said he has had limited contacts with his family, who live in Brittany, to "protect them from the media."

He said he has left his apartment in the Paris suburb of Neuilly and is staying with friends in the Paris region.

Despite serious charges brought against him, Kerviel has enjoyed the sympathy of many members of the public.

Dozens of fan groups have popped-up on Facebook, some of them dubbing him the Robin Hood of finance for having taken on a major bank.

The French president and ministers along with France's top central banker, Christian Noyer, wondered how such important frauds went unnoticed by Societe Generale's management.

In an address to the French parliament yesterday, Noyer said that it was "incomprehensible" and "improbable" that the unauthorized trades had not been spotted before.

"Frankly, I can't explain it," he said. "It is what I am waiting for most patiently from our investigation."

In a comment today, the Financial Times pointed fingers at Societe Generale's top manager.

"It has suited many people in this corporate drama to blame SocGen's eye-watering losses on a single trader," read the editorial, "but responsibility should not rest with Mr. Kerviel alone."

"So far, the bank's response – to fire the trader's immediate superiors – has been inadequate."

Societe Generale declined to make any comment to ABC News, "while the investigation is going on."

The AMF — Autorite des Marches Financiers, or French Financial Market Authority – confirmed that it is investigating the trades and the financial information released by Societe Generale. The investigation could take months, according to the AMF.

A vice-prosecutor with the Tribunal of Paris told ABC News that Kerviel is set to appear in court on Friday.