Joe Lewis charged within the US: What does it imply for Tottenham?
J
oe Lewis has been indicted within the US for “orchestrating a brazen insider trading scheme”.
Lewis has been charged by New York prosecutors with 16 counts of securities fraud and three counts of conspiracy.
The billionaire is alleged to have “abused his access to corporate board rooms and repeatedly provided inside information” in an effort to “shower gifts on his friends and lovers”.
Lewis denies the costs and has pleaded not responsible.
Here, Standard Sport seems at whether or not it may impression Tottenham.
What does Lewis’ US indictment imply for Spurs?
Tottenham hope that any impression from Lewis’ US case will stay minimal, given the 86-year-old relinquished possession of the membership in October final yr.
The billionaire additionally ended any curiosity in ENIC, the corporate that owns Spurs.
Tottenham won’t face any Premier League repercussions even when Lewis have been to be convicted. Lewis now not falls below the powers of the Premier League’s house owners’ and administrators’ checks, and English top-flight chiefs are considered glad there is no such thing as a hyperlink to Spurs.
So if not Lewis, then who owns Tottenham now?
Lewis stepped down in October from the Lewis Family Trusts, the physique proudly owning shares in Spurs. The Lewis Family Trusts personal greater than 70 per cent of ENIC, the corporate holding an 86 per cent stake in Tottenham.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and different members of Lewis’ household maintain the remaining stake in ENIC.
Bahamas-based lawyer Bryan Antoine Glinton and Katie Louise Booth have been appointed individuals of serious management in Tottenham Hotspur Limited after Lewis stepped down in October.
What would possibly this imply for any potential sale of the membership?
While any potential buyers or would-be consumers of Tottenham will probably be justified in asking exhaustive questions on the most recent state of affairs relating to the previous proprietor, the Premier League’s place may show pivotal.
Tottenham have set out their stall clearly in stating that Lewis’ courtroom case is a non-public matter and never for the membership to make any remark.
The Premier League’s satisfaction that Tottenham wouldn’t be topic to any penalty or sanction may in the end override all different issues on the subject of a potential membership sale.
Could this impression cashflow at Tottenham?
The possession adjustments made in October depart Tottenham working as regular, with no indicators for that to vary.
Lewis may clearly endure vastly from a trial the place 13 of the costs towards him may carry 20-year jail phrases. But Spurs are in a position to press on with enterprise as standard with no indicators of that altering for now.
What occurs now?
Lewis has entered a not responsible plea so will now await trial, and the chance to clear his identify, having travelled to the US voluntarily to contest the allegations.
Tottenham will proceed preparations for the brand new Premier League season.
A Tottenham spokesperson stated: “This is a legal matter unconnected with the club and as such we have no comment.”
Lewis’s lawyer David M. Zornow stated in an announcement to Standard Sport earlier than his not responsible plea: “The authorities 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 reply these ill-conceived prices, and we’ll defend him vigorously in courtroom.”