The former owner of Premier League team Tottenham, Joe Lewis, who is a billionaire from Britain, admitted to insider trading in a US federal court on Wednesday, according to a prosecutor.
Former Tottenham owner, Joe Lewis has been accused of providing insider information to his employees, including his private pilots and romantic partners, in a bold scheme that spanned from 2013 to 2021 and resulted in millions of dollars in profits. He was charged six months ago and initially pleaded not guilty, with his lawyer dismissing the charges as a serious mistake.
One of Joe Lewis’ companies has been ordered to pay $50 million in penalties as part of the plea deal. Lewis has now admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison, and two counts of securities fraud, each carrying a maximum potential sentence of 20 years. His sentencing date has not yet been 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.”
According to prosecutors, Lewis provided stock tips that contained confidential information about upcoming positive test results for biochemical companies.
“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.
“These individuals, in turn, traded on the tips provided by Lewis for vast personal gain.”
In 2019, prosecutors claimed that Lewis provided $500,000 to each of his two pilots so they could purchase Mirati Therapeutics stock before the public release of clinical results. One of the pilots reportedly messaged a friend to buy the stock, indicating that he believed “the Boss has inside info.”
Lewis, who is considered one of the wealthiest individuals in Britain with a fortune estimated at $6.2 billion by Forbes, gained prominence as a currency speculator in the 1980s and early 1990s. His holding company ENIC acquired a controlling interest in Tottenham in 2001 from then-owner Alan Sugar for $22 million.
According to British financial records, Joe Lewis officially relinquished control of the club last year, and his stake was formally transferred to a family trust.
READ ALSO: The new champions league format
