SocGen rogue trader was unremarkable, hardworking

PARIS (Reuters) - The rogue trader accused of causing a 4.9 billion euros ($7.18 billion) loss to Societe Generale through fraudulent trades was quiet, hardworking and generally unremarkable, people who knew him said on Friday.

The head of France's central bank has called him a "master of fraud" and "a computer genius," but a more mundane picture emerges from those who knew him before the scandal broke.

"He was just an average kind of person. When I arrived in the morning, he was there, and when I left in the evening, he was still there," said one colleague who worked in the same section of the bank as him, which dealt with equity derivatives.

The person declined to be named, saying Societe Generale, France's second-largest listed bank, had banned staff from talking to the media.

Dubbed "the man who blew up the bank" by the daily Le Parisien, a photo of 31 year-old Jerome Kerviel's unsmiling face was splashed across the world's media on Friday, a day after his name was linked with the largest fraud in banking history.

Societe Generale has still not named the dealer, but Kerviel's name surfaced within hours of the announcement on Thursday and was confirmed by banking sources.

France's financial establishment has closed ranks to blame the shock loss on a single wrongdoer.

But his character, motivation and even his whereabouts remained a riddle, though his lawyer said he was not on the run and was ready to cooperate with investigators.

His family defended him, saying he was innocent.

"He is a decent boy and who is not in my view responsible for what he is accused of. He is being made to carry the blame and he is not the guilty one. I am convinced of that," said one family member who declined to be named.

The relative said Kerviel's mother had suddenly left the town of Pont l'Abbe in the western region of Brittany, where she used to run a hairdressing salon, to be with her son, who was "not doing well" and was in the Paris area.

"LOCKSMITH TURNED BURGLAR"?

Kerviel was a graduate of universities in Nantes and Lyon, with a master's degree in finance, and had moved from SocGen's back office to become an apprentice trader in the dealing room.

Andre Tiran, Dean of the faculty at Lyon 2 University, where Kerviel earned his master's degree in middle and back office market operations, said he was a good student.

"He is a student with whom we had no problems, who was completely a totally normal student, very hard-working and with very good results," he told France 2 television, adding that his training could have come in useful in committing fraud.

"It's a little like someone who becomes a burglar and who is a locksmith. If he has a very good locksmith's training, it's a little easier to become a burglar," he said.

A children's judo teacher with an interest in sailing and a working knowledge of English, according to a CV that has been circulating widely, Kerviel was reported to have lost his father some years ago and to have recently broken up with a girlfriend.

Outside what is believed to be his former flat in the exclusive suburb of Neuilly, near Paris, the concierge left a note for reporters saying he had moved out.

But former neighbors spoke warmly of him.

"He was very handsome. Pleasant, especially with my dog. He stroked her. Handsome, strong, muscular, very well dressed in a suit and tie. He looked very much like a banker," said Neuilly resident Colette Thomas, 79.

Bank of France Governor Christian Noyer described him as a "computer genius," although the only IT skills he lists on the CV are "Microsoft Office Package - Visual Basic."

Whether or not he was an IT whiz kid, some of his colleagues questioned how he could have created such a mess all by himself.

"Internally, people are wondering how it was possible that no one saw anything. There is perhaps another story that we have not been told," one SocGen employee said, declining to be named.

(Writing by Francois Murphy and James Mackenzie; Additional reporting by Brian Rohan and Benoit Tessier in Paris, Pierre-Henri Allain in Rennes and Jonathan Saul in Dublin; Editing by Charles Dick)