UK billionaire Joe Lewis, the largest shareholder in the Australian Agricultural Co, has pleaded guilty to a charge of insider trading in a US court.

Joe Lewis

The 86-year-old investor was charged with passing inside corporate information to his private pilots, personal assistants and girlfriend, providing financial advantage.

Mr Lewis pleaded guilty to conspiracy and two counts of securities fraud as part of a deal with prosecutors during a hearing in the New York Federal Court in Manhattan yesterday.

The plea comes six months after he was charged in July last year with sixteen counts of securities fraud and three counts of conspiracy (see earlier Beef Central report).

Prosecutors alleged that between 2013 and 2022, he abused his access to corporate board rooms and passed the insider information on to his contacts. One of the episodes involved information relating to AA Co’s share price, following the impact of flooding across large areas of Northwest Queensland.

US authorities suggested the fraud netted millions of dollars in profit.

Mr Lewis holds around 50 percent of shares in publicly-listed Australian Agricultural Co, through his Bahamas-based Tavistock Investments, which also includes ownership stakes in a large array of property, sports, finance, energy and life sciences companies.

In court in Manhattan on Wednesday, Mr Lewis admitted he knew what he was doing was wrong.

“I am so embarrassed and I apologize to the court for my conduct,” he said.

He will be sentenced in March.