Joseph Lewis, the British billionaire who owns the Tottenham Hotspur English soccer club, has been charged with insider trading by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.
What Happened: Lewis was charged with a total of 16 counts of securities fraud under Title 15, and Title 18. He was also charged with three counts of conspiracy. If convicted, the billionaire faces a total of 350 years in prison.
The charges — which prosecutors detailed in a 29-page indictment — implicate him in illegally passing non-public corporate information to associates for financial gain, with authorities alleging that the billionaire funneled insider tips to his employees, romantic partners, private pilots, and friends.
"Those folks then traded on that inside information, and made millions of dollars in the stock market," New York District Attorney Damien Williams said in a statement addressing the indictment. "Because thanks to Lewis, those bets were a sure thing."
Lewis, 86, exploited nonpublic information about several publicly-traded companies accessed through his investment vehicles and influenced his employees to trade on the information, the indictment says.
One of the instances involved two $500,000 loans Lewis made to two of his private pilots, urging them to buy shares of a pharmaceutical company before the company issued favorable clinical results.
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Why It Matters: Lewis’s lawyer, David Zornow, argued that prosecutors have gravely misjudged the situation, the New York Times reported, adding that Lewis voluntarily came to the U.S. to contest the charges in court.
The lawyer expressed confidence that the financier, who he described as having an "impeccable integrity and prodigious accomplishment," would prevail, according to the NY Times.
Despite the severe allegations, Lewis' soccer club distanced itself from the matter, saying that the legal issue has no connection with the team.
If found guilty, Lewis could face disqualification from owning Spurs under Premier League rules, raising questions about the future ownership of the club.
"Laws apply to everyone, no matter who you are," Williams said.
Read next: Markets Brace For Fed Meeting: US Stocks In Decline, With Microsoft Headed For 2023’s Worst Day
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