The billionaire former owner of Tottenham Hotspur, Joe Lewis, has pleaded guilty in an insider trading case in the US, prosecutors have confirmed.

Lewis, 86, pleaded guilty in front of US District Judge Jessica Clarke on Wednesday to charges alleging he had committed securities fraud and conspired to commit securities fraud by insider trading.

“Today’s guilty pleas once again confirm – as I said in announcing the charges against Joseph Lewis just six months ago – the law applies to everyone, no matter who you are or how much wealth you have,” said US Attorney Damian Williams.

“Billionaire Lewis abused inside information he gained through his access to corporate boardrooms to tip off his friends, employees and romantic interests.

“Now, he will pay the price with a federal conviction, the prospect of time in prison and the largest financial penalty for insider trading in a decade.”

Separately, Broad Bay Ltd, a company which is owned by Lewis, pleaded guilty and accepted its participation in hiding the billionaire’s stake in a pharmaceutical company. It will pay more than 50 million dollars (£39 million) in financial penalties.

Lewis’s lawyer David Zornow said that his client still has the right to appeal if he is sentenced to time in prison, according to Reuters.

The billionaire had in July denied the 16 charges of securities fraud and three charges of conspiracy that he was faced with. He will be sentenced on March 28.

According to prosecutors, he allegedly orchestrated “a brazen insider trading scheme” and passed secrets to romantic partners, personal assistants, friends and two co-conspirators.

The information allowed them to bet on companies which he had invested in, using information only those with access to the business could have known. It helped them earn millions of dollars, the case claimed.

Lewis built his wealth through the investment company, Tavistock Group, and bought a controlling stake in Tottenham Hotspur in 2001.

In 2022 he ceded control of the club and formally handed his stake to a family trust and has no day-to-day involvement with the club. Spurs declined to comment.

He was worth more than £5 billion according to the 2023 Sunday Times Rich List, being ranked as the 39th richest person in the country.

British billionaire Joe Lewis – whose family trust owns Tottenham – has been bailed by a judge in New York after pleading not guilty to charges of giving insider trading tips.

The 86-year-old, who faces 16 counts of securities fraud and three counts of conspiracy, appeared at an arraignment hearing at Manhattan Federal Court on Wednesday.

After entering a not guilty plea Lewis was released on a bail of 300 million US dollars (£230m), reportedly secured by a yacht and private aircraft equivalent to that amount.

Lewis, and two of his pilots who are also facing charges, must remain in the United States.

Prosecutors say Lewis, who was arrested on Wednesday morning, is alleged to have used his access to confidential information to provide stock tips to individuals close to him, with the indictment referring to one girlfriend having made 849,000 US dollars (£657,000) on one of those tip-offs.

Lewis’ legal counsel David Zornow, from the Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom firm, said: “The government has made an egregious error in judgment in charging Mr Lewis, an 86-year-old man of impeccable integrity and prodigious accomplishment.

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

Each of the first 13 counts of securities fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, Manhattan prosecutors said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced on Tuesday that Lewis had been indicted over a “brazen insider trading scheme”.

Prosecutors said Lewis, by virtue of his investments in certain companies, received material and non-public information about these companies.

A release from prosecutors on Wednesday alleged Lewis had “misused and misappropriated this confidential information to provide stock tips to various individuals in his life, including his employees, romantic partners, and friends, as a way to provide them with compensation and gifts”.

It added: “These individuals, in turn, traded on the tips provided by Lewis for vast personal gain.”

Lewis bought a controlling stake in Spurs in 2001 for £22million.

He officially ceded control of the club last year, with Bahamian lawyer Bryan A Glinton replacing him as a director according to Companies House.

His stake in the club – which he held through the ENIC Group alongside Daniel Levy – was formally handed to a family trust last year.

Family members of Lewis remain beneficiaries of the trust.

PA understands the Premier League does not consider Lewis as a person with control at Tottenham, and is therefore not subject to its owners’ and directors’ test.

A Tottenham spokesperson said: “This is a legal matter unconnected with the club and as such we have no comment.”

US prosecutors said Lewis is also alleged to have falsely disclosed the extent of his ownership shares in a pharmaceutical company, Mirati, “through an elaborate array of shell companies and other entities, including an offshore trust purportedly for the benefit of his granddaughter”.

As a result of this alleged false disclosure, prosecutors said he was able to exercise warrants in Mirati that he would otherwise not have been able to exercise, “at vast financial gain”.

Also charged were Patrick O’Connor and Bryan Waugh, two pilots employed by Lewis to fly his private aircraft. In one instance, it is alleged Lewis loaned each of them 500,000 US dollars (more than £387,000) to buy shares in a company before it publicly announced favourable information about some clinical results.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) acting assistant director in charge Christie M Curtis said: “As alleged, Mr Lewis treated material, non-public information at his disposal as though it was something he could give his friends and associates for their benefit.

“This type of behaviour – blatant disregard for the law – is not only illegal but undermines the integrity of our financial markets.

“The FBI is determined to ensure that anyone willing to perpetrate insider trading schemes is held accountable in the United States criminal justice system.”

Joe Lewis’ journey from leaving school at 15 to having an estimated worth of £5billion has included currency trading, property development, Toby Carvery, the Nolan Sisters and – most notably – Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

The 86-year-old is rarely in attendance when Spurs – the club in which he has majority ownership – host Premier League rivals at their state-of-the-art stadium.

The 62,850-seater venue opened in 2019 just six miles up the road from Bow, where Lewis was born in 1937. He went on to purchase Spurs from fellow east-end businessman Lord Sugar in 2001 for £22million.

Unlike Sugar, however, he seldom watches the team he owns, with chairman Daniel Levy the more recognised senior figure at the club, with Lewis based in the Bahamas or aboard his superyacht, Aviva.

His varied business ventures have previously seen Lewis launch the singing career of the Nolans in his London club, hand Robert Earl – the founder of Planet Hollywood – his first job and host the Tavistock Cup golf tournament, in which the likes of Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Sir Nick Faldo and Sergio Garcia have all played.

Lewis himself emerged from humble backgrounds, taking over – and eventually selling – the family catering company which gave him his first pay-cheque after leaving school.

Currency trading saw Lewis amass the majority of his early fortune and he benefited hugely on the events of ‘Black Wednesday’ – the sterling crisis in September 1992 which was caused by the British government withdrawing currency from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism – which Lewis had backed would occur.

It is through Tavistock Group – in which he is the primary investor – that Lewis owns Spurs, the ENIC Group purchasing the club 22 years ago.

Investments – largely in the United States – in finance, restaurants (including British chains Toby Carvery and All Bar One), resorts, energy, manufacturing and agriculture also form parts of the Tavistock Group, founded in 1975 and named after the Tavistock Catering firm in which Lewis had worked alongside his father.

ENIC’s ownership of Tottenham has led to an increasingly fraught relationship with fans who believe not enough money is being invested into the team to allow them to challenge for major honours.

The 2008 League Cup remains the only trophy won since Lewis took ownership of the club and, while Levy, in a more high-profile role, has been criticised for some time, the last few seasons have seen ENIC also come under increasing pressure.

The news of Lewis’ charges over alleged insider trading will do nothing to help build that bridge with supporters.

New head coach Ange Postecoglou will no doubt have to answer questions on the subject, while the uncertain future of Harry Kane, the club’s all-time record goalscorer, only adds to the unrest.

Former England Under-21s goalkeeper Joe Lewis has left Aberdeen after seven years at the club.

The 35-year-old lost his position as first-choice last season and has now departed Pittodrie.

Lewis, who moved to Scotland from Cardiff, had previously captained the Dons before Kelle Roos ousted him as Barry Robson’s preferred goalkeeper.

“I’ve got so many good memories here at Aberdeen, both on and off the field, and I’ve made many friends within the club, so it feels quite emotional to be moving,” the former Norwich man told the club’s official website.

“I have no regrets; I’ve always tried my hardest every time I wore the shirt and I’m enormously proud to have captained the club and played as many games as I did.”

Manager Robson said: “Joe has been a colossal figure at the club for many years and he can be extremely proud of his contribution to Aberdeen FC.

“Both on and off the pitch, he has been a leader. Not only an outstanding goalkeeper, but a proper professional and exactly the type you want in and around your dressing room.

“I would like to thank Joe personally and wish him well for whatever is next.”