Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis has been arrested and will appear in court in the United States for allegedly giving insider trading tips to friends, lovers and even his personal pilots.
In a 29-page document released by prosecutors in New York, the British billionaire was accused of running a “brazen” scheme, whereby he would tip off lovers, friends, and associates with private stock market information, which they used to make millions.
Confirming that the 86-year-old Tottenham owner has been indicted over insider trading tips, US attorney Damian Williams said;
“None of this was necessary. Joe Lewis is a wealthy man. But as we allege, he used inside information as a way to compensate his employees or shower gifts on his friends and lovers.
“That’s classic corporate corruption. It’s cheating. And it’s against the law.”
Mr Lewis, who founded the investment firm Tavistock Group, now faces 16 counts of securities fraud and three counts of conspiracy, for alleged crimes spanning from 2013 to 2021.
Prosecutors said that in some insider trading cases, Lewis lent money to recipients of his tips, including in October 2019 when he wired $1m to two pilots so they could buy shares in Mirati, a biotech company.
The indictment quoted one pilot texting a friend that “Boss lent Marty and I $500,000 each for this,” and that he thought “the Boss has inside info” because “otherwise why would he make us invest”.
Both pilots allegedly repaid their loans soon after Mirati announced favorable results from a clinical trial, causing its stock price to rise 16.7%. “Loan payback for MRTX,” the second pilot wrote in his records.
Responding to the charges, his lawyer David Zornow said in a statement;
“The government has made an egregious error in judgement in charging Mr Lewis, an 86-year-old man of impeccable integrity and prodigious accomplishment.
“Mr Lewis has come to the US voluntarily to answer these ill-conceived charges, and we will defend him vigorously in court.”
According to Forbes magazine, Mr Lewis is worth $US6.1 billion (£5bn). His wealth is tied to Tavistock, a Bahamas-based holding company that controls stakes in more than 200 businesses in 13 countries with investments in real estate, restaurants, and resorts.
He bought a majority share in Tottenham Hotspur in 2001. Under his ownership, the Premier League club has built a state-of-the-art stadium at an estimated cost of more than $US1 billion. The indictment doesn’t mention Tottenham.
