Tottenham Hotspur F.C Owner Joe Lewis Faces Insider Trading Charges in the US

Article ByDavid Weir

July 26, 2023

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Posted in: US Sports Betting News, US Gambling Crime News, US Gambling News

Joe Lewis, the owner of English Premier League soccer team Tottenham Hotspur — and once major shareholder in sportsbook Ladbrokes (now part of Entain) — has been indicted in the United States on charges of insider trading.

The 82-year-old British billionaire (pictured) is accused of running a “brazen insider trader scheme.” He allegedly shared nonpublic information about companies he had inside information on with friends, associates, and employees. This allowed them to profit from buying or selling related stocks, according to the indictment.

He faces 19 counts all told, including security fraud and conspiracy to make false statements.

For his part, Lewis denies the accusations.

“The government has made an egregious error in judgment in charging Mr Lewis, an 86-year-old man of impeccable integrity and prodigious accomplishment,” said Lewis’s lawyer, David Zornow, of law firm Skadden Arps, as reported in The Financial Times.

“Mr. Lewis has come to the U.S. voluntarily to answer these ill-conceived charges, and we will defend him vigorously in court.”

Unconnected with the Club

Despite the serious nature of the charges, a spokesperson for Tottenham Hotspur F.C has stated that they have no bearing on the club.

“This is a legal matter unconnected with the club and as such we have no comment,” the North London-based team’s statement said, as reported by BBC News.

However, it was noted that last October, the club made a filing to Companies House confirming that Lewis was no longer a person with significant control at the club.

Tottenham have been one of the EPL’s premier teams over the past few years, with a growing international following. But there’s been no recent silverware to back that up.

Lewis also owns a stake in UK pub chain Mitchells & Butlers, and has had significant investments in Ladbrokes since 2008, which is now part of Entain.

It is unclear if Lewis still holds shares in joint Bet MGM operator Entain after the company, then known as GVC Holdings, merged with Ladbrokes-Coral in 2017. He previously held a 7% stake in the British operator, which he bought for $300 million.

The indictment and subsequent legal proceedings could potentially have implications for his ownership of his internationally renowned soccer club and his other investments, including any gambling interests he may still have.

The Charges in Detail

The charges against Lewis include 16 counts of security fraud and three counts of conspiracy for crimes alleged to have taken place between 2013 to 2021.

“We allege that, for years, Joe Lewis abused his access to corporate board rooms and repeatedly provided inside information to his romantic partners, his personal assistants, his private pilots, and his friends,” U.S. attorney Damian Williams said.

Williams further claimed that Lewis’s acquaintances used that information to make millions of dollars in the stock market. “Thanks to Lewis, those bets were a sure thing,” he said.

Insider trading, the illegal practice of using confidential information to trade on the stock exchange to one’s advantage, is a serious crime and can result in hefty fines and imprisonment.

This isn’t the only time insider trading and sports, or gambling operators, have collided this year. In June, two New York-based individuals were charged in a $750,000 insider trading case relating to U.S. gambling operator Penn Entertainment’s $2 billion purchase of Score Media in 2021.

As the legal proceedings unfold in Lewis’s case, the future of his investments and his role in Tottenham Hotspur remain uncertain. Lewis is worth an estimated $5.096 billion.

The case serves as a reminder of the potential legal risks faced by high-profile individuals in the world of sports and business conducting multi-million deals.