Joe Lewis, a British billionaire and owner of Premier League club Tottenham, has been indicted by the Office of the Southern District of New York for orchestrating a “brazen” inside trading scheme.

Unveiling the indictment on Tuesday, U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Darmian Williams, alleged Mr Lewis had abused his access to corporate boardrooms for years as he used it to provide insider trading information to his romantic partners, personal assistants, private pilots and friends.

Consequently, in return, the beneficiaries use insider information to trade on the stock market and “illegally” make millions of dollars as the profits on investment returns are always guaranteed due to the information the 86-year-old businessman provided.

Mr Williams said the “needless classic corruption and cheating acts” committed by the “wealthy man” were allegedly used to compensate his employees and shower gifts on friends and lovers, which is against the law.

According to Forbes, Mr Lewis has an estimated net worth of £4.65 billion. He owns the Tavistock Group, with more than 200 assets across 13 countries through which the billionaire maintains the ownership of Tottenham and operates UK pub Mitchells & Butlers.

David Zornow, Mr Lewis’ lawyer, said the U.S. government “made an egregious error in judgment in charging Mr Lewis, an 86-year-old man of impeccable integrity and prodigious accomplishment.”

He added that his client had come to the U.S. voluntarily to answer the “ill-conceived” charges, which would be “defended vigorously in court.”

The spokesperson for Tottenham said the indictment was “a legal matter unconnected with the club, and as such, we have no comment.”