The publicity shy British billionaire who has steadily acquired more than half of the Australian Agriculture Company's big beef business is facing charges in New York for alleged insider trading.
The Bahamas-based Joe Lewis, who also owns English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, coached by Australia's Ange Postecoglou, has been indicted over an alleged insider trading scheme described by a prominent attorney as "brazen" and "classic corporate corruption".
Lewis is the main investor in majority AACo shareholder, Tavistock Group, which owns more than 200 companies in 15 countries.
He has been charged with 16 counts of securities fraud and three counts of conspiracy, for alleged crimes spanning from 2013 to 2021.
"My office ... has indicted Joe Lewis, for orchestrating a brazen insider trading scheme," Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a video release on Tuesday.
"We allege that for years Joe Lewis abused his access to corporate boardrooms and repeatedly provided inside information to his romantic partners, his personal assistants, his private pilots and his friends.
"Those folks then traded on that inside information and made millions of dollars in the stock market, because thanks to Lewis those bets were a sure thing."
The attorney described Lewis's behaviour as "classic corporate corruption".
We allege he used inside information as a way to compensate his employees or to shower gifts on his friends and lovers.
- Damian Williams, New York attorney
"Now, none of this was necessary," Williams said.
"Joe Lewis is a wealthy man. But as we allege, he used inside information as a way to compensate his employees or to shower gifts on his friends and lovers.
"That's classic corporate corruption. It's cheating, and it's against the law. Laws that apply to everyone, no matter who you are."
Lewis, 86, is the founder and primary investor of the Tavistock investment group, which is also Bahamas-based on the island of New Providence.
Originally a London catering company owner, Lewis left school at 15, succeeding in the family business as it expanded into luxury goods sales before he sold it to become an even more successful currency trader in the 1980s and 1990s.
He is reputed to be worth about $9 billion.
Tavistock Group, which has had a stake in the 199-year-old AACo for a decade, lifted its AACo Trust's holding to 52 per cent in March.
Tavistock has two of the eight director seats on the Don McGauchie-chaired board.
Directors have not issued a dividend to AACo investors since 2008.
Brisbane-based AACo owns Australia's largest cattle herd - about 433,000 head on properties - spread over 6.4 million hectares in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
The Lewis trust has been a keen supporter of AACo's drive into luxury Wagyu branded beef marketing initiatives overseas under its Westholme, Wylarah and Darling Downs brands.
The pastoral giant's portfolio includes feedlots and stations such as Carrum Station and Dalgonally Station, near Julia Creek, Avon and Austral Downs on the Queensland-NT border and the Goonoo farm grain growing and feedlot property at Emerald.
Lewis bought his controlling stake in Premier League team Tottenham from Lord Alan Sugar in 2001 for Sterling 22 million ($A41.8m).
Former Socceroos coach Postecoglou was appointed manager at London club Tottenham in June, following a successful spell in charge at Scottish giants Celtic.
- with Australian Associated Press and Reuters
