Tottenham Hotspur proprietor and British billionaire Joe Lewis has been indicted in New York for “orchestrating a brazen insider buying and selling scheme”, a US lawyer mentioned.
Damian Williams, the US lawyer for the Southern District of New York launched a video confirming the indictment. In it, he mentioned: “At the moment I’m saying that my workplace, the Southern District of New York, has indicted Joe Lewis, the British billionaire, for orchestrating a brazen insider buying and selling scheme.
“We allege that for years Joe Lewis abused his entry to company boardrooms and repeatedly offered inside info to his romantic companions, his private assistants, his non-public pilots and his associates.
“These of us then traded on that inside info and made tens of millions of {dollars} within the inventory market, as a result of due to Lewis these bets have been a positive factor.”
Mr Williams described Lewis’s behaviour as “traditional company corruption”. He mentioned: “Now, none of this was obligatory.
“Joe Lewis is a rich man. However as we allege he used inside info as a strategy to compensate his workers or to bathe items on his associates and lovers.
“That’s traditional company corruption. It’s dishonest, and it’s towards the regulation. Legal guidelines that apply to everybody, irrespective of who you might be.
“That’s why Joe Lewis has been indicted and can face justice right here within the Southern District of New York.”
Lewis, 86, is the founder and first investor of Bahamas-based funding agency Tavistock Group.
He was ranked 39th within the 2023 Sunday Instances Wealthy Record, with an estimated price of greater than £5 billion.
He purchased a controlling stake in Tottenham from Sir Alan Sugar in 2001 for £22 million.
The Premier League membership and Tavistock Group have been contacted for remark.