Finance minister says trader acted alone

PARIS, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Monday that Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel "acted alone" in a $7.35 billion trading scandal.

Police held Kerviel for questioning after the trader surrendered Saturday but they haven't charged him with any crime, The Times of London reported.

Some bank officials and politicians, however, are skeptical he could have done this by himself, given the sheer size of the fraud, which resulted in $7.35 billion in bank losses.

Kerviel allegedly risked more than $73 billion of bank funds in unauthorized equity derivatives trading on Jan. 18.

Kerviel's lawyer said his client, "committed no dishonest act, did not siphon off a single cent and did not profit in any way," from his actions.

Allegedly, Kerviel created fictitious contracts and knew how to beat the bank's security systems, because of the four years he spent working in the bank's monitoring offices. He has been engaged in fraudulent trading for over a year, the report said.