Press "Enter" to skip to content

Michael Avenatti to Face Extortion Charges in New York

Michael Avenatti to Face Extortion Charges in New York

Attorney and prominent Trump opponent Michael Avenatti will be charged for attempting to extract millions in payments from Nike by threatening to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict substantial financial and reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met, according to federal prosecutors in New York. 

In addition to the New York charges, Avenatti is also facing bank and wire fraud charges in California for alleged embezzlement.

A spokesperson for the FBI confirms that attorney Michael Avenatti was arrested by FBI agents at approximately 12:30 p.m. Monday inside a building in midtown Manhattan.

Avenatti was arrested at the midtown Manhattan law offices of Boies Schiller Flexner, a firm whose website says it has done past work for Nike. In the federal complaint against Avenatti, it notes that he was scheduled to meet with the attorney for the company on Monday.

Shortly before his arrest, Avenatti had tweeted that he would be holding a news conference Tuesday “to disclose a major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by @Nike that we have uncovered. This criminal conduct reaches the highest levels of Nike and involves some of the biggest names in college basketball.”

According to the federal complaint, Avenatti is charged with conspiracy to transmit interstate communications with intent to extort, conspiracy to commit extortion, tansmission of interstate communications with intent to extort and extortion. 

The FBI allegedly became aware of a multi-million extortion scheme in which Avenatti used threats “of economic and reputational harm to extort Nike.”

The federal complaint claims that in a meeting with Nike on March 19, 2019 Avenatti, who said was representing an AAU coach whose team previously had a contractual relationship with Nike that the company decided not to renew. Avenatti said his client had evidence that one or more Nike employees authorized and funded payments to families of top high school basketball players and the families attempted to conceal those payments, according to the complaint.

The federal complaint further states that Avenatti told Nike that he would hold a press conference about the alleged payments to high school players’ families, but that he would “refrain” from holding the conference if Nike agreed to pay $1.5 million to his client and that the company must hire him and his client to conduct an internal investigation of Nike. 

In a subsequent March 21 meeting, according to the complaint, Avenatti had another meeting with Nike attorneys in which he siad that “he would require a $12 million retainer to be paid immediately and to be “deemed earned when paid,” with a minimum guarantee of $15 million in billings and a maximum of $25 million, “unless the scope changes.””

It was at that March 21 meeting, the complaint says, that Avenatti agreed to meet once again with the attorney for the company on Monday.

In the California charges Avenatti faces, it is alleged that 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, according to prosecutors in California.

Avenatti rose to national prominence representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in her claims against President Donald Trump, though he said this month that he no longer represents her. Avenatti also claimed to have evidence showing singer R. Kelly sexually assaulting young girls, a claim Kelly has denied.

Avenatti was arrested on a felony domestic violence charge in Los Angeles in November but the district attorney declined to press felony charges.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Be First to Comment

    Leave a Reply