The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that British billionaire Joe Lewis pleaded not guilty Wednesday to orchestrating what prosecutors called a "brazen" insider trading scheme by passing tips about companies in which he invested to friends, his pilots and a former girlfriend. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says that Mr. Lewis, 86, whose family trust controls a majority of the Tottenham Hotspur football team, entered his plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo in Manhattan Federal Court. Prosecutor Nicolas Roos said Mr. Lewis would be released on $300-million (U.S.) bond secured by his yacht, named the Aviva, and private aircraft. Two of Mr. Lewis's pilots, Patrick O'Connor and Bryan Waugh, also pleaded not guilty to related insider trading charges, after being accused of making millions of dollars in illegal profit from Mr. Lewis's tips. Mr. Lewis founded the $6.1-billion (U.S.) investment firm Tavistock Group. Separately on Wednesday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil insider trading case against Mr. Lewis, Mr. O'Connor, Mr. Waugh and Mr. Lewis's former girlfriend Carolyn Carter. The charges involve an unnamed biotechnology company in 2019 that was raising capital.