Tottenham owner Joe Lewis has surrendered to U.S. authorities in New York and is set to appear in court to face insider trading charges.
According to prosecutors, Lewis allegedly used his privileged access to corporate boardrooms to provide insider information to friends, personal assistants, private pilots, and romantic partners, enabling them to make millions of dollars in illegal profits.
The 86-year-old founder of investment firm Tavistock Group faces 16 counts of securities fraud and three counts of conspiracy in connection with alleged offenses spanning from 2013 to 2021.
Two of Lewis’ pilots, Patrick O’Connor and Bryan Waugh, were also charged with insider trading securities fraud for allegedly benefiting from Lewis’ tips.
Prosecutors claim that in 2019, Lewis lent $500,000 to each pilot and encouraged them to purchase stock in the oncology company Mirati Therapeutics ahead of a positive clinical result announcement.
O’Connor allegedly texted a friend suggesting that Lewis had inside information about the company.
After the favorable results were disclosed, Mirati’s share price rose significantly, and both pilots repaid Lewis for the loans.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a separate civil insider trading case against Lewis, O’Connor, Waugh, and Lewis’ former girlfriend Carolyn Carter.
Tottenham FC stated that the legal matter is unrelated to the club and declined to comment.
Lewis, who is valued at $6.1 billion according to Forbes, voluntarily traveled to the United States to defend himself against the charges, as stated by his lawyer, David Zornow.
Lawyers for O’Connor and Waugh have yet to respond to the charges.
