According to a report by Reuters, British billionaire Joe Lewis is facing criminal charges in New York for allegedly orchestrating an audacious insider trading scheme. He has surrendered to US authorities in Manhattan and is expected to appear in court to face the charges.
Joe Lewis, who controls the majority of the Tottenham Hotspur soccer team through his family trust, is accused of passing insider information about companies he invested in to friends, personal assistants, private pilots, and romantic partners. This enabled them to make millions of dollars in profits, as per the prosecutors’ claims.
The founder of the investment firm Tavistock Group is facing 16 counts of securities fraud and three counts of conspiracy, covering alleged crimes from 2013 to 2021. With a net worth of $6.1 billion according to Forbes, Lewis held board of director seats at several companies and appointed employees to serve on boards, granting him access to privileged information.
In response to the charges, Lewis’ lawyer, David Zornow, asserted the billionaire’s innocence, emphasizing his “impeccable integrity and prodigious accomplishment.” Lewis voluntarily came to the US to face the allegations, and his legal team is prepared to vigorously defend him in court.
The prosecutors claim that Lewis exploited his boardroom access to pass nonpublic information about companies like Mirati Therapeutics, Solid Biosciences, and Australian Agricultural Co from 2019 to 2021. He is also accused of conspiring from 2013 to 2018 to defraud Mirati, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and investors by concealing his ownership stake in the cancer therapy company through shell companies and other means.
In some cases, Lewis allegedly lent money to recipients of his insider tips, such as wiring $1 million to two pilots in October 2019 to buy more Mirati shares. The indictment quoted one pilot mentioning that Lewis “has inside info” as the reason for making the investment.
Lewis, who once took a nearly 10 percent stake in Bear Stearns in 2007 before its near-collapse and acquisition by JPMorgan Chase, experienced significant losses estimated at over $1 billion. Insider trading has been a focal point of the US Attorney’s office, dating back to a crackdown initiated in 2009 under Preet Bharara, one of its predecessors.