86-year-old Lewis is alleged to have passed information to friends and partners (Picture: Getty)
Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis has been indicted over a ‘brazen’ insider trading scheme by US authorities.
The British billionaire has been accused of ‘classic corporate corruption’ by US Attorney Damian Williams, alleging he has passed on sensitive information to ‘friends and romantic partners’.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Williams said: ‘Today I’m announcing that my office, the southern district of New York has indicted Joe Lewis, the British billionaire, for orchestrating a brazen insider trading scheme.
‘We allege that for years Joe Lewis abused access to corporate board rooms and repeatedly provided inside information to his romantic partners, his personal assistants, his pilots and his friends.
‘Those folks then traded on that inside information and made millions of dollars on the stock market. Thanks to Lewis those bets were a sure thing.
‘None of this was necessary. Joe Lewis is a wealthy man, but as we allege he used insider information to compensate his employees, or to shower gifts on his friends and lovers.
‘That’s classic corporate corruption. It’s cheating and it’s against the law.’
86-year-old Lewis owns the Tavistock Group, with more than 200 assets across 13 countries, through which he owns Totenham. He is estimated to be worth £4.5billion.
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‘We allege he used insider information to compensate his employees, or to shower gifts on his friends and lovers.’
