AVENATTI STOLE MILLIONS, FEDS SAY
Add big bucks & new dirt to Avenatti raps
Embattled attorney Michael Avenatti faces dozens of new charges as federal authorities accused him Thursday of stealing millions of dollars from clients to buy a jet, finance a coffee business and pay for his own legal expenses.
The grand jury indictment also accuses him of committing bank fraud, failing to pay his taxes and lying in bankruptcy filings. It marks a major blow for the highprofile, loudmouth litigator, who rose to fame while representing adult film star Stormy Daniels (photo) in her lawsuits against President Trump and his personal attorney Michael Cohen.
The charges, filed late Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California, come weeks after Manhattan prosecutors charged him with extortion and conspiracy for his alleged attempt to shake down more than $20 million from Nike.
Avenatti, 48, had also been arrested on a related charge of stealing from one client and filing bogus tax returns. The new 36-count indictment “significantly broadens the scope of the case,” prosecutors said in a statement.
Ten of the counts against him are for wire fraud in four different cases, including one involving a paraplegic client.
Prosecutors said Avenatti represented the man in a lawsuit against Los Angeles County on charges that the client lost the use of his legs as a result of the county violatin g his constitutional rights. The county settled the lawsuit for $4 million in 2015, but within months Avenatti “drained the entire settlement payment” and used it to finance his coffee company or pay for personal expenses, the indictment alleges.
The client, meanwhile, received no more than $1,900 and the rent for his assisted living facility, authorities said.
In another case, Avenatti is accused of pocketing the bulk of a $2.75 million settlement and using it to buy a jet, while falsely telling the client that the settlement called for monthly payments over eight years.
“The financial investigation conducted by the IRS details a man who allegedly failed to meet his obligations to the government, stole from his clients, and used his ill-gotten gains to support his racing team, the ownership of Tully’s coffee shops, and a private jet,” Ryan Korner, an FBI official in California, said Thursday.
Avenatti, who’s out on $300,000 bond, pledged to fight the new allegations.
“For 20 years, I have represented Davids vs. Goliaths and relied on due process and our system of justice,” he wrote on Twitter. “Along the way, I have made many powerful enemies. I am entitled to a FULL presumption of innocence and am confident that justice will be done once ALL of the facts are known.”
The controversial Los Angeles attorney, who explored a run for presidency before his own legal troubles began to pile up, was accused last month of threatening to ruin Nike’s reputation just days earlier if the footwear giant didn’t pay him a hefty sum.
Avenatti continues to claim his innocence and accused Nike of bribing young basketball players to attend “’Nike’ colleges.”
“Nike bribed over 100 players as part of their scheme and purposely hid the payments from the NCAA & fed investigators,” he said in a tweet last week, when he also dumped dozens of pages of documents he claims show evidence of the company’s crimes.