BREAKING NEWS: Tottenham owner Joe Lewis, 86, pleads not guilty in court to insider trading charges after he surrendered himself to US authorities in Manhattan

British billionaire Joe Lewis pleaded not guilty to U.S. insider trading charges at a hearing on Wednesday.

Lewis entered his plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo in Manhattan federal court.

Federal prosecutors accused Lewis, 86, whose family trust controls a majority of Tottenham Hotspur, with orchestrating a 'brazen' insider trading scheme by passing tips about companies in which he invested to friends, personal assistants, private pilots and romantic partners.

Two of Lewis' pilots, Patrick O'Connor and Bryan Waugh, were also charged with insider trading securities fraud, and accused of making millions of dollars in illegal profit from Lewis' tips.

Lewis founded the investment firm Tavistock Group, and is worth $6.1billion according to Forbes magazine.

His lawyer David Zornow said prosecutors made an 'egregious error' in bringing charges, and said his client had come to the United States voluntarily to defend himself against the charges.

Lawyers for O'Connor, 66, and Waugh, 64, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Both have been arrested, while Lewis surrendered to authorities on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for Tottenham said in a statement: 'This is a legal matter unconnected with the club and as such we have no comment.'

Prosecutors said that in 2019 Lewis lent each pilot $500,000 and encouraged them to buy stock in oncology company Mirati Therapeutics before it released favorable clinical results.

O'Connor texted a friend that he thought 'the Boss has inside info,' according to the indictment.

After Mirati announced the positive results, its share price increased 16.7 per cent in one day, and both pilots repaid Lewis for his loans.

In wiring Lewis the repayment, Waugh indicated the money was a