Illustration by Stella Murphy
‘A Big, Beautiful Deal’
A trial in Paris offers a rare and detailed view into the alleged mechanics of what prosecutors claim is a multi-million-euro insider trade.
It was a little after 7am on a Friday in November and Stéphane Fima was already at his desk in the Société Générale tower in Paris’s La Défense business district. With the open-plan office still relatively quiet, he pulled up a confidential file codenamed “Sangria” from the bank’s servers. It was the second time in two days that Fima risked his job by accessing these documents. But with millions at stake, the acquisitions specialist couldn’t resist.
Three hours later, a burner phone registered to a fake name placed an outgoing call. The recipient was Thomas Seligman, a family friend and former hair salon mogul who founded what he claims to be France’s oldest paintball supply company.