Feds Charge Michael Avenatti with Extortion in NY, Embezzlement in CA
Posted by Mary Chastain Monday, March 25, 2019 at 1:42pm
https://legalinsurrection.com/2019/...tortion-in-ny-embezzlement-in-ca/#more-277792
News comes right after Avenatti announced a press conference for Tuesday
At 11:16AM, lawyer Michael Avenatti tweeted about his press conference tomorrow morning, which would cover a high school/prep school scandal that involves Nike.
Only 46 minutes later, a CNN reporter tweeted that the Southern District of New York charged Avenatti for “attempting to extract more than $20M in payments from a publicly traded company by threatening to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict substantial financial & reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met.”
The DOJ also announced Avennati’s arrest on a seperate charge of federal bank fraud and wire fraud.
*This is a BREAKING STORY. Will update as information rolls out…
New York
Here is Avenatti’s tweet: (posted below)
Erica Orden tweet not even an hour later:
https://mobile.twitter.com/eorden/s...atti-with-extortion-in-ny-embezzlement-in-ca/
The charges include conspiracy to transmit interstate communications with intent to extort, conspiracy to commit extortion, and extortion.
The federal prosecutors wrote in documents that Avenatti and a client claimed “they had evidence that Nike had funneled money to recruits in exchange for their commitments to college teams sponsored by Nike and that they would release them in order to damage Nike’s reputation and market capitalization unless Nike paid them between $15 and $25 million.” The document stated the alleged crime took place this month.
SDNY will hold a press conference at 2:30PM ET.
U.S. v. Michael Avenatti – Sealed Complaint for Extortion by Legal Insurrection on Scribd
California
The Department of Justice also charged Avenatti with federal bank fraud and wire fraud charges. From the DOJ:
Posted by Mary Chastain Monday, March 25, 2019 at 1:42pm
https://legalinsurrection.com/2019/...tortion-in-ny-embezzlement-in-ca/#more-277792
News comes right after Avenatti announced a press conference for Tuesday
At 11:16AM, lawyer Michael Avenatti tweeted about his press conference tomorrow morning, which would cover a high school/prep school scandal that involves Nike.
Only 46 minutes later, a CNN reporter tweeted that the Southern District of New York charged Avenatti for “attempting to extract more than $20M in payments from a publicly traded company by threatening to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict substantial financial & reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met.”
The DOJ also announced Avennati’s arrest on a seperate charge of federal bank fraud and wire fraud.
*This is a BREAKING STORY. Will update as information rolls out…
New York
Here is Avenatti’s tweet: (posted below)
Erica Orden tweet not even an hour later:
https://mobile.twitter.com/eorden/s...atti-with-extortion-in-ny-embezzlement-in-ca/
erica orden
@eorden
NEW: SDNY is charging Michael Avenatti for "attempting to extract more than $20M in payments from a publicly traded company by threatening to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict substantial financial & reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met."
1:01 PM · Mar 25, 2019 · TweetDeck
erica orden
@eorden
·
1h
Replying to
@eorden
SDNY is having a press conference on the Avenatti charges at 2:30pm.
erica orden
@eorden
·
46m
And there’s a second federal criminal case against Avenatti.
DOJ release: “Federal law enforcement officials will provide details concerning today’s arrest of lawyer Michael Avenatti, who faces federal charges of wire fraud and bank fraud in the Central District of California.”
The charges include conspiracy to transmit interstate communications with intent to extort, conspiracy to commit extortion, and extortion.
The federal prosecutors wrote in documents that Avenatti and a client claimed “they had evidence that Nike had funneled money to recruits in exchange for their commitments to college teams sponsored by Nike and that they would release them in order to damage Nike’s reputation and market capitalization unless Nike paid them between $15 and $25 million.” The document stated the alleged crime took place this month.
SDNY will hold a press conference at 2:30PM ET.
U.S. v. Michael Avenatti – Sealed Complaint for Extortion by Legal Insurrection on Scribd
California
The Department of Justice also charged Avenatti with federal bank fraud and wire fraud charges. From the DOJ:
Attorney Michael Avenatti was arrested today pursuant to a criminal complaint alleging he embezzled a client’s money in order to pay his own expenses and debts — as well as those of his coffee business and law firm — and also defrauded a bank by using phony tax returns to obtain millions of dollars in loans.
Avenatti, 48, of Century City, was arrested today pursuant to a two-count felony complaint charging him with wire fraud and bank fraud. He also was arrested pursuant to a separate federal case filed in New York.
According to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint in this case, Avenatti negotiated a settlement which called for $1.6 million in settlement money to be paid on January 10, 2018, but then gave the client a bogus settlement agreement with a false payment date of March 10, 2018. The affidavit states that Avenatti misappropriated his client’s settlement money and used it to pay expenses for his coffee business, Global Baristas US LLC, which operated Tully’s Coffee stores in California and Washington state, as well as for his own expenses. When the fake March 2018 deadline passed and the client asked where the money was, Avenatti continued to conceal that the payment had already been received, court documents said.
Avenatti also allegedly defrauded a bank in Mississippi by submitting to the lender false tax returns in order to obtain three loans totaling $4.1 million for his law firm and coffee business in 2014. According to the affidavit, Avenatti obtained the loans by submitting fabricated individual income tax returns (Forms 1040) for 2011, 2012, and 2013, reporting substantial income even though he had never filed any such returns with the Internal Revenue Service. The phony returns stated that he earned $4,562,881 in adjusted gross income in 2011, $5,423,099 in 2012, and $4,082,803 in 2013, according to the affidavit. Avenatti allegedly also claimed he paid $1.6 million in estimated tax payments to the IRS in 2012 and paid $1.25 million in 2013. In reality, Avenatti never filed personal income tax returns for 2011, 2012 and 2013 and did not make any estimated tax payments in 2012 and 2013. Instead of the millions of dollars he claimed to have paid in taxes, Avenatti still owed the IRS $850,438 in unpaid personal income tax plus interest and penalties for the tax years 2009 and 2010, court papers state. The affidavit also alleges that, as part of his loan applications, Avenatti also submitted a fictitious partnership tax return for his law firm.