Lawyers for two pilots accused of trying to trade on inside information in Aussie beef giant have also argued they have no conflict of interest.
His investment vehicle owns more than half of beef giant AACo.British billionaire Joe Lewis has increased his holding in Australian beef giant AACo, a company he isThe lift in the AACo holding from 51.09 per cent to 52.09 per cent came via a series of acquisitions made both before and after Mr Lewis was indicted in the US in July.He is defending the charge, as are two of his personal jet pilots accused of trying to deal in AACo shares based on information he allegedly passed to them.
That holding is so large it would have secured approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board. Sources with knowledge of FIRB processes said such approvals could not retrospectively be withdrawn unless on national security grounds.FIRB guidelines include a character assessment, but the actual test is whether any acquisition is contrary to the national interest.
An indictment filed by New York Southern District Attorney Damian Williams alleged that a Tavistock representative on AACo’s board leaked information about cattle losses from flooding in 2019 to Mr Lewis, who then was accused of passing the information on to his pilots.Documents filed in US courts this month show the pilots Patrick O’Connor and Bryan “Marty” Waugh are employed by a Tavistock entity and their lawyers are being paid for by another Tavistock entity.