January 24, 2024, 16:11 GMT
Updated 15 minutes ago
Image source: Getty Images
image description,
Joe Lewis apologized to the court after pleading guilty as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors
British billionaire Joe Lewis, whose family foundation includes the Tottenham Hotspur football club, has pleaded guilty to insider trading in a US court.
Lewis, 86, was accused of leaking information about his companies to his private pilots, friends, personal assistants and romantic partners.
According to US authorities, the fraud netted millions of dollars in profits.
Lewis pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and securities fraud as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Lewis founded investment firm Tavistock Group and was ranked 39th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2023 with an estimated fortune of more than 5 billion pounds ($6.4 billion).
He was arrested in July 2023 and charged with 16 counts of securities fraud and three counts of conspiracy.
The public prosecutor's office had accused him of abusing his access to the company's boardrooms between 2013 and 2021 and passing on insider information to his contacts.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said these contacts made millions of dollars from “safe” bets on the stock market.
In a statement, Mr Williams said: “Today's guilty pleas confirm once again – as I said six months ago when the charges against Joseph Lewis were announced – that the law applies to everyone, regardless of who you are or how much wealth you have have.”
In one case, the indictment says, Lewis told a friend in July 2019 that she should invest in a biotech company before the results of a clinical trial conducted by the company were released. He then allegedly logged himself into her bank account and invested $700,000 in the company, ultimately making a profit of $849,000.
Prosecutors also said that as part of the scheme, Lewis concealed the true size of his stake in a company, Mirati Therapeutics.
Lewis admitted in court in Manhattan on Wednesday that he knew what he was doing was wrong.
“I am so embarrassed and apologize to the court for my behavior,” he said.
In the conspiracy case, the maximum penalty is five years in prison; in the two securities fraud counts, the maximum sentence is 20 years each.
However, the plea agreement allows Lewis to appeal the decision if he is sentenced to prison.