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The plea deal will likely drastically reduce any sentence for Lewis, who faced as long as 45 years in prison. Zornow said that Lewis waived his right to appeal unless he is sentenced to jail time. The attorney asked for the sentencing process to be expedited given the businessman’s age. Lewis, who was slowly guided out of the courthouse by his supporters, will face court again on March 28.
Lewis, Carter, Waugh and O’Connor were also sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
In 2019, according to the indictment, Lewis learned from Australian Agricultural’s board of directors that the beef producer had suffered huge losses due to flooding and that insurance wouldn’t cover its cattle losses. Lewis passed on the information to O’Connor and Waugh and urged them to sell their stock in the company.
Joe Lewis is well known for his ties to Premier League club Tottenham.Credit: Getty Images
In the same year, he allegedly told his girlfriend in South Korea to purchase shares of Solid Biosciences, a biotech company, after learning about an upcoming private investment and clinical trial. The girlfriend paid $US700,000 — “nearly all of her available funds” — to purchase 150,000 shares, according to the indictment. She sold the shares and made a $US849,000 profit, prosecutors said.
On another occasion, prosecutors say, a Mirati Therapeutics board member, who also worked at Lewis’ biotech hedge fund, told the billionaire about confidential, positive results from the company’s clinical trial. Lewis then told Carter to buy shares in Mirati ahead of the result announcement. He also loaned his pilots $US500,000 each to make similar investments, the indictment states.
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The plea overshadows what has otherwise been a lengthy and successful career for Lewis. Born and raised in the UK, Lewis turned his father’s catering business into a chain of themed restaurants before pivoting to currency trading in the late 70s. He moved to the Bahamas to avoid UK taxes and made hundreds of millions betting against the British pound and Mexican peso in the 90s.
He diversified into real estate and other investments with the formation of Bahamas-based investment vehicle, Tavistock Group.
Lewis is best known in England through his ownership of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, one of the teams that originally agreed to join the European Super League before pulling out after a public outcry.
Lewis ceased to be a person with significant control in Tottenham in October 2022. ENIC Group, with majority control held by a Family Discretionary Trust of which Lewis is not a beneficiary, is Tottenham’s owner, rather than Lewis.
Bloomberg
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