Former trader Jerome Kerviel will soon learn whether he must go to jail for covering up billions of dollars in losses while working as a trader for a top French bank - and reimburse the (EURO)4.9 billion (about $7 billion) it took to unwind his deals.

The Paris appeals court gives its verdict Wednesday, deciding whether Kerviel was a fraudster or the victim of a greedy system as he claims.

The 35-year-old Kerviel was sentenced to three years in prison in October 2010, and ordered to reimburse Societe Generale for its loss. The prosecution wants a five-year term, calling him a "perverse manipulator."

Kerviel, seeking an acquittal, claims the bank turned a blind eye to his exorbitant trades in late 2007 and early 2008 as long as they made money.