Tottenham’s billionaire owner Joe Lewis charged over ‘brazen insider trading scheme’ in US

TOTTENHAM’S billionaire owner Joe Lewis has been charged with insider trading by American authorities.

US Attorney Damian Williams this evening accused the Spurs owner of “classic corporate corruption”.

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Tottenham owner Joe Lewis has tonight been charged with inside trading in the US[/caption]

Lewis, 86, is a self-made billionaire who was born in London – but spends much of his life abroad.

According to the Forbes rich list, he has an estimated fortune of a whopping £4.3bn.

In a video published this evening, the US Attorney said: “We allege that for years that Joe Lewis abused his access to corporate boardrooms and repeatedly provided insider information to his romantic partners, his personal assistants, his private pilots and his friends.

“Those folks then traded on that insider information and made millions of dollars in the stock market because for Lewis it was a sure thing.

“Now none of this was necessary. Joe Lewis is a wealthy man. But as we allege he used inside information to compensate his employees or to shower gifts with his friends and lovers.

“It’s classic corporate corruption. It’s cheating and it’s against the law – laws that apply to everyone no matter who you are.”

Lewis rarely visits the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to cheer on Harry Kane and Co, preferring life on a superyacht in the Caribbean to trips to North London.

Residing mostly in the Bahamas on his £112m boat called Aviva III, he also has a home next door to Sean Connery’s former estate and is friends with Tiger Woods.

Over the years, he launched the careers of Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock founder Robert Earl and 70s pop sensations The Nolans.

Let SunSport take you through the world of the man nicknamed “The Boxer” because of his sporting namesake.