French trader still in custody

Jerome Kerviel, the trader accused of losing $7.2 billion at Societe Generale through unauthorized dealing, will remain in custody one more day, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Sunday. Police must charge or release him by this afternoon.

Societe Generale on Jan. 24 filed a lawsuit with the Nanterre prosecutor against “a 31-year-old person,” accusing him of creating fraudulent documents, using forged documents and making attacks on an automated system, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor said.

The investigation was transferred to the Paris prosecutor Friday. Kerviel, who is being fired, balanced each bet with a fictitious one for almost a year, executives said.

He reportedly was caught because he exceeded the limits with a counter party whose limits, unknown to him, had been changed.