Spurs tycoon Lewis pleads guilty to insider trading: prosecutor

Spurs tycoon Lewis pleads guilty to insider trading: prosecutor

Lewis is reported to be one of Britain's richest men with a fortune that Forbes puts at $6 billion
Lewis is reported to be one of Britain's richest men with a fortune that Forbes puts at $6 billion. Photo: ANGELA WEISS / AFP
Source: AFP

The billionaire British former owner of Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, Joe Lewis, pleaded guilty to insider trading in a US federal court on Wednesday, a prosecutor said.

Lewis, 86, was accused of furnishing employees, including his private pilots, and lovers with insider information for years in a "brazen" scheme between 2013 and 2021 that raked in millions of dollars.

He was charged in the case six months ago, initially pleading not guilty with his lawyer calling the charges an "egregious error."

One of Lewis' companies has been ordered to pay $50 million in penalties in connection with the plea made before a US judge, the prosecutor said.

Lewis pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years imprisonment, and two counts of securities fraud, which each carry a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison.

Read also

UAE sued in $2.8bn US lawsuit over 'dark PR' disinformation op

His sentence will be handed down at a date yet to be announced.

"While I possessed material non-public information about certain publicly traded companies, I agreed to make recommendations" to three other parties to buy that stock, Lewis told judge Jessica Clarke, Bloomberg News reported.

"I knew at the time what I was doing was wrong and I'm so embarrassed."

$6.2 bn fortune

Stock tips provided by Lewis included confidential information about upcoming favorable test results for biochemical companies, according to prosecutors.

"Lewis, on multiple occasions over the course of several years, misused and misappropriated this confidential information to provide stock tips to various individuals in his life, including his employees, romantic partners, and friends, as a way to provide them with compensation and gifts," the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York said in a statement.

Read also

Argentines down tools in first major challenge to budget-slashing Milei

"These individuals, in turn, traded on the tips provided by Lewis for vast personal gain."

Prosecutors alleged that in 2019 Lewis lent his two pilots $500,000 each so that they could buy Mirati Therapeutics stock before the public release of the clinical results.

One of the pilots allegedly messaged a friend to buy the stock, telling them that he thought "the Boss has inside info."

Lewis is reported to be one of Britain's richest men with a fortune that Forbes puts at $6.2 billion, building his reputation as a currency speculator in the 1980s and early 1990s.

His holding company ENIC bought a controlling interest in Tottenham Hotspur Football Club in 2001 from then-owner Alan Sugar, another prominent British tycoon, for $22 million.

Lewis officially ceded control of the club last year, according to British financial records, and his stake was formally handed to a family trust.

New feature: Сheck out news that is picked for YOU ➡️ click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.