In March, the Southern District of New York (SDNY) charged lawyer Michael Avenatti with trying to extort over $20 million from Nike.
The feds changed the indictment by dropping two conspiracy charges but added a wire fraud charge.
The original complaint stated that Avenatti and his co-conspirator met with Nike’s attorneys where they “threatened to release damaging information” if Nike “did not agree to make multi-million dollar payments to them, as well as an additional $1.5 million payment to a client Avenatti claimed to represent.”
Avenatti pleaded not guilty. He claimed he did not tell Nike he would release “dirty dealings by Nike in college athletics if he wasn’t paid up to $25 million.”
The lawyer celebrated the news on Twitter.
I guess he forgot that he still faces charges, including the new one.
Not to mention the fact that a federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted Avenatti with 36 counts that include “fraud, perjury, failure to pay taxes, embezzlement and other financial crimes.”
The DOJ wrote in its press release that Avenatti faces 10 counts of wire fraud, 19 tax-related charges, two counts of bank fraud, and four bankruptcy fraud charges, and embezzlement charges.
Avenatti also faces charges in New York over porn star Stormy Daniels:
Federal prosecutors in New York City say Avenatti used a doctored document to divert about $300,000 that Daniels was supposed to get from a book deal, then used the money for personal and business expenses. Only half of that money was paid back, prosecutors said.Daniels isn’t named in the court filing, but the details of the case, including the date her book was released, make it clear that she is the client involved.
Anyone else having trouble keeping up with all the indictments and allegations against Avenatti?
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