On March 24, a French Appeals Court upheld a conviction for insider trading against billionaire anti-gunner and anti-Bush zealot George Soros. The court additionally upheld a fine of 2.2 million euros (approximately $2.9 million at current rates) stemming from Soros` 2002 conviction on the same charge. The three-judge panel was deciding whether to overturn, modify, or uphold his original conviction and fine.
Contrary to his November 2002 testimony where he stated, "I have been in business all my life, and I think I know what is insider trading and what isn`t," at an appeals hearing last month, Soros acknowledged hearing about a Paris financier`s plans to take over a newly privatized French bank days before he began buying its shares independently.