Pilot to SBF-connected billionaire Joe Lewis guilty of insider trading

Patrick O’Connor, the personal pilot to billionaire Joe Lewis, has pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges related to insider trading.

A press release from the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York details how O’Connor “received material, non-public information from Lewis and then traded on the basis of that information.” This information enabled O’Connor to profit from biotech investments, including Mirati.

Lewis, who is the former owner of Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur, has himself previously pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges related to insider trading. Lewis made a significant portion of his fortune by shorting the British pound alongside George Soros in 1992.

Lewis is also connected to Bahamian banker Jean Chalopin, who sold him the famous ‘Albany House’ that was featured in the Bond movie Casino Royale. Chalopin’s bank, Deltec Bank and Trust has since been accused in a civil suit of being complicit in the misappropriation of customer funds from FTX by Alameda Research.

Executive texts claim Deltec moved customer funds from FTX to Alameda

Chalopin was a crusader for cryptocurrency in the Bahamas, advocating for the DARE Act, which lightly regulated cryptocurrency firms in the country.

Lewis’ firm, Tavistock Group, was also the developer of the Albany luxury resort in the Bahamas, and he reportedly maintained his principal residence here. Sam Bankman-Fried, the convicted fraudster behind Alameda Research and FTX, also owned multiple properties at the Albany.

Reuters previously reported that FTX-related entities purchased a total of seven properties in the resort. However, the bankruptcy process would eventually reveal that FTX-linked firms had purchased a total of 16 units there.

Scoop: Indicted billionaire Joe Lewis sold property to Sam Bankman-Fried

Read more: Deltec, SBF-linked billionaire Joe Lewis set for guilty plea to insider trading

The FTX debtors-in-possession are looking to liquidate the 35 different real estate properties owned in the Bahamas as part of the bankruptcy process.

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