Sentencing date: British billionaire Joe Lewis (pictured) will be sentenced this week
British billionaire Joe Lewis could serve less than 18 months in a US prison after pleading guilty to passing inside information to his private pilots and girlfriend, American prosecutors said.
Lewis, 87, will be sentenced this week after he was charged last year for sharing tips about four publicly traded companies between 2019 and 2021.
The businessman, the former owner of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two counts of securities fraud under an agreement with the US attorney’s office.
According to Bloomberg, the US government said Lewis deserves a shorter sentence due to his age, his health issues and for travelling to America to accept responsibility for his crimes.
He could be sufficiently punished after less than a year and a half in jail, prosecutors said. Lewis, who founded the investment firm Tavistock Group, faced as long as 45 years in prison if he had been found guilty at trial.
He initially denied 16 counts of securities fraud and three counts of conspiracy last July after he was accused of passing on tips about companies to friends, personal assistants, private pilots and romantic partners.
By ‘orchestrating’ the ‘brazen insider trading scheme’, Lewis enabled them to make millions of dollars in profit, prosecutors said.
‘I am so embarrassed and I apologise to the court for my conduct,’ said Lewis in January. According to the 2023 Sunday Times Rich List, he has a fortune of more than £5billion.
Tavistock Group has stakes in around 200 firms across the property, sports, finance, energy and life sciences companies.
Its investments include ENIC, which bought a controlling stake in Premier League Spurs in 2001. ENIC’s ownership passed to the Lewis Family Discretionary Trust last October and Lewis is not a beneficiary.
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