British billionaire Joe Lewis avoids prison. The former owner of the English football club Tottenham was fined “only” $5 million by Manhattan federal court but escaped prison in a stock market insider trading case. In addition to the fine, Joe Lewis, 87, was also sentenced to three years of probation.
“I am here today because I made a very serious mistake. I am ashamed and I apologize,” said the businessman, who had already pleaded guilty, in a trembling voice.
With a frail silhouette and an eyepatch over his left eye, the person concerned had pleaded for clemency, promising to take “the time that (him) has left” to live to make amends. Residing in the Bahamas, he thus escaped prison after pleading guilty at the end of January to three counts of “stock market fraud”, punishable by a maximum of 5 and 20 years in prison.
Stock market tips given to his conquests
The prosecutors themselves had recommended a measured sentence, emphasizing in a written document that the defendant was “nearing the end of his life” and that his health was “declining.”
Joseph (“Joe”) Lewis was accused of taking advantage of his position within the executives of several listed companies, via his investment company Tavistock Group, to gain access to confidential information and repeatedly provide tips scholarships to employees, friends or romantic partners, as well as to his personal airplane pilots, who were able to benefit from them.
Multibillionaire Joe Lewis to face US sentencing for insider trading https://t.co/y9jIXFykVS pic.twitter.com/9t5mo5qQZB
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 4, 2024
Joe Lewis is considered one of the richest men in the United Kingdom, with a fortune estimated at more than six billion dollars according to Forbes, and linked to his activities as a foreign exchange dealer (currency exchange) from the 1980s.
The billionaire owns the Bahamian company Tavistock Group, whose subsidiary ENIC became a shareholder in Premier League club Tottenham in 2001. But in 2022, Joe Lewis handed over control of Spurs to a family fund and officially retired from the management of club affairs.