Broker arrested in Societe Generale probe

PARIS, March 12 (UPI) -- A broker at Societe Generale has been arrested in connection with a $7 billion trading scandal at the French bank, police said Wednesday.

Sources at the bank said Manuel Zabraniecki, a broker from the bank's cash equity trading desk, was arrested after a raid on the bank's La Defense headquarters, The New York Times reported.

Zabraniecki was one of 11 people listed as friends of Jerome Kerviel, the former trader at the center of the scandal, on his personal profile on the Internet portal Facebook.

Societe Generale said in January it sustained the losses when it unwound $76.6 billion worth of unauthorized bets Kerviel had allegedly hidden through fictitious transactions, the newspaper reported.

A Paris appeals court Friday will consider whether Kerviel should be released from custody while the probe continues. He has been behind bars since Feb. 8, after prosecutors persuaded judges to detain him amid concern he would flee or tamper with evidence.