Tottenham owner Joe Lewis indicted in the US for ‘brazen insider trading scheme’
Tottenham owner Joe Lewis gave insider trading tips to friends, lovers and even his personal pilots, according to criminal charges issued by prosecutors in the United States.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has charged the 86-year-old with 16 counts of securities fraud and three counts of conspiracy.
Each of the first 13 counts of securities fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, Manhattan prosecutors said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, had announced on Tuesday that Lewis was being indicted over a “brazen insider trading scheme”.
Further detail, including the full indictment, have since been published, with prosecutors saying Lewis had been arrested on Wednesday morning and would be presented later in the day. A lawyer for Lewis said he had come to the US voluntarily, while pledging to vigorously defend his client in court.
Prosecutors said Lewis, by virtue of his investments in certain companies, received material and non-public information about these companies.
A release from prosecutors on Wednesday alleged Lewis had “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”.
It added: “These individuals, in turn, traded on the tips provided by Lewis for vast personal gain.”
Lewis bought a controlling stake in Spurs in 2001 for £22million.
He officially ceded control of the club last year, with Bahamian lawyer Bryan A Glinton replacing him as a director according to Companies House.
His stake in the club – which he held through
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