Tottenham owner surrenders to US authorities over insider trading

The British billionaire and the Chief Executive Officer of Tottenham Hotspur football team, Joe Lewis, 86, has surrendered himself to the United States authorities in Manhattan after being charged with ‘brazen’ insider trading.

Lewis on Tuesday was accused by federal prosecutors of slipping confidential stock tips to his romantic partners, private pilots, and friends so that they could make millions of dollars, Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.

He is charged with 13 counts of securities fraud with each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three counts of securities fraud, carrying a sentence of 25 years in prison each, and three counts of conspiracy carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison respectively.

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According to the prosecutors, the suspect exploited his entrée to various corporations to reap lucrative secrets and passed them to his own inner circle people, prompting them to trade on the knowledge.

A statement by the US Attorney, Damian Williams, partly read, “Joe Lewis self-surrendered this morning to federal authorities and is expected to be presented in Manhattan federal district court sometime today on criminal charges.

“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 his access to corporate boardrooms and repeatedly provided inside information to his romantic partners, his assistants, his private pilots, and his friends.”