SBF-Connected Billionaire Joe Lewis Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading Charges

cryptonews.com:

Billionaire Joe Lewis, who has connections to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, pleaded guilty to insider trading charges in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday.

Lewis pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two counts of securities fraud in a New York courtroom on Wednesday. The billionaire, whose net worth is estimated to be $6.2 billion, faces a $5 million fine and 45 years in prison. “Billionaire Lewis abused inside information he gained through his access to corporate boardrooms to tip off his friends, employees, and romantic interests,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “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.”

Lewis previously gained notoriety in the 1990s when he successfully bet on the British pound crashing out of the European exchange rate mechanism.  He is currently the principal investor of Tavistock Group, an international private investment organization that counts Bahamian luxury property, the Albany , as part of its portfolio. Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried notably took up residence alongside a handful of FTX employees at the Albany’s $35 million penthouse suit e, aptly named the “Orchid.” Lewis himself currently calls the residence home. Many in the crypto community have argued that the FTX founder’s time at the Albany was indicative of a lavish lifestyle paid for using customer funds, with former Head of Engineering for FTX, Nishad Singh, testifying that he was “confused” about the “ostentatious” nature of the luxury property. “I thought about moving out many times,” Singh said while on the stand. Bankman-Fried was formally convicted on seven