[JURIST] A second employee of French bank Societe Generale [corporate website] has been detained in connection with the investigation into fraudulent activity allegedly committed by rogue trader Jerome Kerviel [BBC profile], the bank said Tuesday. A Societe Generale spokesperson did not name the man but did confirm that he is not the same banker questioned in late February [JURIST report]. Bloomberg reported that an official involved in the investigation had identified the second banker as Manuel Zabraniecki.

Kerviel has been in custody [JURIST report] since February 8 when the Paris appeals court granted a request by prosecutors to hold Kerviel in "provisional detention" to prevent him from fleeing the country or communicating with any possible accomplices during the investigation. Societe Generale, which lost $7 billion when it was forced to unload the fraudulent positions, described the methods Kerviel supposedly used to commit the fraud in an explanatory note [PDF text]. Kerviel has maintained that he acted alone, but also says that he is being made a scapegoat [Telegraph report] by the bank, which he alleges was aware of his activities. Additionally, BusinessWeek has reported [text] that the Eurex derivatives exchange [exchange website] warned Societe Generale in November 2007 about Kerviel's unauthorized transactions. Bloomberg has more. BBC News has additional coverage.