British billionaire Joe Lewis pleaded guilty to U.S. insider trading charges. He was charged in July 2023 with passing inside information on his portfolio companies to two of his private pilots as well as friends, personal assistants and romantic partners. This allowed them to make millions of dollars of profit. Lewis has the right to appeal in the event he is sentenced to prison time The pilots, Patrick O’Connor and Bryan Waugh, were also charged. All three men entered not guilty pleas last July. Lewis was charged by federal prosecutors with 16 counts of securities fraud and three counts of conspiracy, for alleged crimes spanning from 2013 to 2021. While he will not plead guilty to the other counts under the terms of his deal, Clarke said she may consider them for sentencing purposes.
Lewis founded the investment firm Tavistock Group and is worth $6.2 billion. He is allowed to remain free on a $300 million bond secured by his yacht, named the Aviva, and private aircraft.The Government asserted that Lewis got inside information about four companies in which he had invested through his hedge fund and tipped friends and associates.The companies included Mirati Therapeutics and BCTG Acquisition Corp, a company that his hedge fund founded and took Tango Therapeutics public in a merger in 2021.
Jeffrey Newman Esq. and members of his firm represent whistleblowers under the SEC, CFTC and FINCEN whistleblower programs. Persons providing original information to these agencies through counsel may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of a successful recovery made by the SEC, CFTC OR FINCEN and the names and identification of the whistleblowers are kept confidential. His firm also represents whistleblowers in healthcare fraud cases relating to Medicare of Medicaid. Attorney Newman can be reached at Jeff@Jeffnewmanlaw.com or at 617-823-3217
