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Sentencing date: British billionaire Joe Lewis (photo) will be sentenced this week
British billionaire Joe Lewis could spend less than 18 months in a U.S. prison after pleading guilty to passing inside information to his private pilots and girlfriend, U.S. prosecutors said.
Lewis, 87, will be sentenced this week after being charged last year with 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 U.S. attorney’s office.
According to Bloomberg, the US government said Lewis deserves a shorter sentence because of his age, his health problems and because he traveled to America to accept responsibility for his crimes.
He could be sufficiently punished after less than a year and a half in prison, prosecutors said. Lewis, the founder of investment firm Tavistock Group, faced a 45-year prison sentence if 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 business tips 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 profits, prosecutors said.
“I am so ashamed and apologize to the court for my behavior,” Lewis said in January. According to the 2023 Sunday Times Rich List, he has a fortune of more than £5 billion.
Tavistock Group has interests in approximately 200 companies across the real estate, sports, financial, energy and life sciences industries.
Investments include ENIC, which bought a majority stake in Premier League Spurs in 2001. Ownership of ENIC passed to the Lewis Family Discretionary Trust last October and Lewis is not a beneficiary.