US prosecutors say Lewis, whose family owns Tottenham Hotspur FC, is responsible for ‘brazen’ insider trading
Lawyers for the British billionaire Joe Lewis have accused US prosecutors of making an “egregious” mistake, after the 86-year-old was charged with multiple counts of securities fraud and conspiracy.
Lewis, who heads the family that owns Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, was charged on Tuesday with orchestrating a “brazen” insider trading scheme to enrich his friends, lovers and employees, including two private jet pilots.
The US attorney for the southern district of New York, Damian Williams, said Lewis had “abused his access to corporate boardrooms” in order to provide confidential information to people who used his tips to make millions of dollars betting on the stock market.
“Thanks to Lewis, those bets were a sure thing,” said Williams.
Buying or selling shares in listed companies using information that has not yet been disclosed to the markets is illegal in the US and every major economy.
Williams said Lewis had knowingly deployed the tactic “as a way to compensate his employees or to shower gifts on his friends and lovers”.
In a 29-page indictment, detailing three counts of conspiracy and 16 counts of securities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years, the US attorney cited evidence including WhatsApps and emails.
In one such message, one of Lewis’s private jet pilots told a friend that “the boss has inside info” after the billionaire allegedly lent him and another pilot $500,000 each to invest in the cancer treatment company Mirati Therapeutics.
