MANHATTAN (CN) — British billionaire Joe Lewis pleaded guilty to insider trading in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, six months after he was charged with more than a dozen criminal counts for tipping nonpublic, inside information to his girlfriend, pilots and others in his inner circle.
Pursuant to a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Lewis, the former owner of the Tottenham Hotspur Premier League soccer club, entered a change of plea on Wednesday, pleading guilty to two counts of securities fraud and a conspiracy charge for insider trading in a superseding indictment.
The Bahamas-based, 86-year-old billionaire will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jessica G. L. Clarke on March 28.
According to federal prosecutors, Lewis’ employees, romantic partners and friends reaped millions of dollars in illegal profits from tips related to the stocks of Solid Biosciences, Mirati Therapeutics, Australian Agricultural Company, and BCTG Acquisition Corporation.
According to the terms of the plea deal, Lewis agreed to cooperate with prosecutors’ ongoing investigation and will not challenge any sentence that doesn't impose a prison term.
While the maximum sentence carried by the three counts is 45 years in prison, prosecutors note in the plea agreement that the stipulated guidelines range is 18 months to two years' imprisonment, which could be adjusted due to Lewis’ age and physical condition.
Prosecutors agreed not to appeal a sentence within the guidelines range.
Lewis’ company, Broad Bay Ltd., which was accused of failing to detect and report the insider trading, also pleaded guilty in a separate plea agreement to one count of securities fraud, and agreed to pay more than $50 million in financial penalties.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams, who announced the charges last July in a video, said Wednesday: “Today’s guilty pleas once again confirm — as I said in announcing the charges against Joseph Lewis just six months ago — the law applies to everyone, no matter who you are or how much wealth you have.
“Billionaire Lewis abused inside information he gained through his access to corporate boardrooms to tip off his friends, employees and romantic interests,” Williams said. “Now, he will pay the price with a federal conviction, the prospect of time in prison, and the largest financial penalty for insider trading in a decade.”
As part of the guilty plea, Lewis and his company agreed to resigning and relinquishing their control over board of director seats and participation in board of director meetings of any corporation publicly traded in the United States; ceasing ownership of certain investments over the five year period of probation; and cooperating with the Department of Justice’s ongoing investigation and prosecution.
He pleaded not guilty at his initial presentment and was released on a $300 million personal recognizance bond, secured by Lewis' 323-foot superyacht, named the Aviva, and a private aircraft.
With a fortune that Forbes estimates at $7.6 billion, Lewis has investments that span from real estate to biotechnology, energy to agriculture, and sports.
He bought Tottenham, one of England’s most storied soccer clubs, in 2001. Lewis’ Tavistock Group has stakes in more than 200 companies around the world, according to its website, and his art collection boasts works by Picasso, Matisse, Degas and more. His business connections include Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Justin Timberlake, with whom he built a Bahamian oceanside resort that opened in 2010.
Lewis’ $300 million bond last July was $50 million greater than the $250 million bond for embattled former crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos referred to in December 2022 as "the largest ever pretrial bond."
The case was handled by the Southern District of New York’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.
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