Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 26 March 2019
Avenatti charged with trying to extort millions from Nike

By BRIAN MELLEY and LAR- Winona Ryder, Scott Pe- of sexual abuse, and he
RY NEUMEISTER terson and most recently briefly explored the idea of
Associated Press Jussie Smollett, the actor a presidential bid last year.
NEW YORK (AP) — Michael accused of fabricating a Daniels said she was “sad-
Avenatti, the pugnacious racist, anti-gay attack in dened but not shocked”
attorney best known for Chicago. by the arrest.
representing porn actress Geragos did not respond She issued a statement
Stormy Daniels in lawsuits to messages seeking com- Monday on Twitter saying
against President Don- ment. Within hours, CNN she fired Avenatti a month
ald Trump, was arrested cut ties with him. ago after “discovering that
Monday on charges that The Avenatti client is a he had dealt with me ex-
included trying to shake coach of an amateur ath- tremely dishonestly.” She
down Nike for as much as letic union men’s basket- said she would not elabo-
$25 million by threatening ball program in California, rate.
the company with bad according to the papers. While Avenatti’s lawsuit ef-
publicity. In this Dec. 12, 2018 file photo, Michael Avenatti, lawyer for porn The AAU program coached fectively tore up the gag
Avenatti, who was also ac- star Stormy Daniels, speaks outside court in New York. by the client was sponsored order that threatened fi-
cused of embezzling a cli- Associated Press by Nike for $72,000 annual- nancial penalties if Daniels
ent’s money to pay his own ly, the complaint said. spoke about the case, a
expenses, was charged Shortly before the charges defamation lawsuit filed on
with extortion and bank came to light, Avenatti her behalf against Trump
and wire fraud in separate tweeted that he planned backfired, and a court or-
cases in New York and Cali- to hold another news con- dered her to pay the presi-
fornia. ference regarding Nike on dent’s $293,000 in legal
He was arrested at a New Tuesday. fees.
York law firm where he had Less than 45 minutes later, Avenatti himself has been
gone to meet with Nike ex- prosecutors announced dogged with tax and fi-
ecutives. the extortion case and his nancial troubles in recent
It was just minutes after he arrest. years.
tweeted that he planned While lawyers sometimes A U.S. bankruptcy court or-
to hold a news conference make demands to seek dered his former firm to pay
Tuesday to “disclose a ma- out-of-court settlements, $10 million to a lawyer who
jor high school/college they cannot threaten to go claimed it had misstated its
basketball scandal perpe- public with damaging in- profits.
trated by @Nike that we formation to get something The Justice Department
have uncovered.” This Friday, Sept. 2, 2016 file photo shows attorney Mark Geragos of value or gain leverage also alleged Avenatti
talking to the media during a news conference in downtown Los
“When lawyers use their Angeles. in a civil dispute, attorney made “misrepresentations”
law licenses as weapons, Associated Press Neama Rahmani said. in the bankruptcy case
as a guise to extort pay- rupt lawyer who instead crimes that include orches- “The Department of Jus- and said his former firm still
ments for themselves, they fights for his own selfish in- trating hush-money pay- tice historically has been owed more than $440,000
are no longer acting as at- terests.” ments to Daniels. very cautious when charg- in unpaid federal taxes,
torneys. They are acting as The arrest was a sharp re- Avenatti allegedly threat- ing attorneys, so they likely which Avenatti dismissed
criminals,” said Geoffrey S. versal of fortune for the ened to hold a news con- have evidence that Av- as “part of a smear cam-
Berman, the U.S. attorney in 48-year-old lawyer, who, ference last week on the enatti seriously crossed this paign.” He said he did not
New York. less than a year ago, eve of Nike’s quarterly line,” said Rahmani, a for- personally owe any of the
California investigators emerged as a leading earnings call and the start mer federal prosecutor. money.
had been building a case figure in the anti-Trump of the NCAA tournament Nike officials told investiga- The bank fraud case in-
against Avenatti for more movement, with relentless to announce allegations tors that Avenatti claimed volved $4 million in loans he
than a year, but prosecu- cable news appearances, of misconduct by Nike em- to know of rules violations got from Peoples Bank in Bi-
tors in New York said their a hard-punching style and ployees. by an amateur basketball loxi, which prosecutors said
investigation began only a knack for obtaining in- The attorney and a co- team sponsored by Nike. he obtained by filing fraud-
last week and was com- formation about others’ conspirator demanded to Executives immediately re- ulent tax returns claiming
pleted in days. wrongdoing. be paid $15 million to $25 ported the threats to fed- $14 million in income over
In the California case, Av- Avenatti appeared briefly million and an additional eral authorities. three years.
enatti allegedly misused a in court Monday evening $1.5 million for an Avenatti The company “firmly be- However, he never filed tax
client’s money to pay his and was ordered released client to remain silent, the lieves in ethical and fair returns those years, nor paid
debts and those of his cof- on $300,000 bond. complaint said. play, both in business and the $2.8 million he reported
fee business and law firm. He did not enter a plea, Two people familiar with sports, and will continue to on the forms. In fact, he still
Federal prosecutors said he and he did not respond to the investigation confirmed assist the prosecutors,” Nike owed more than $850,000
also defrauded a Mississippi emails, phone calls or text that the unidentified co- said in a statement. to the IRS at the time for
bank by using phony tax messages from The Associ- conspirator was Mark Ger- He rose to national promi- previous income.
returns to obtain millions of ated Press. agos, a Los Angeles crimi- nence by representing Mark Pearson, the assistant
dollars in loans. Donald Trump Jr. gloated nal defense lawyer known Daniels, whose real name is agent in charge of the IRS
The allegations “paint an over the arrest on Twitter. for his work with celebrities. Stephanie Clifford, in a law- office in LA, said Avenatti’s
ugly picture of lawless con- “Good news for my friend The people spoke on con- suit to break a confidenti- crimes supported a lav-
duct and greed,” said Nick @MichaelAvenatti, if you dition of anonymity be- ality agreement to speak ish lifestyle that included a
Hanna, the U.S. attorney in plead fast enough, you cause the information was about her alleged affair $200,000-a-month lifestyle,
Los Angeles. might just get to share a not made public by pros- with Trump. a car racing venture and
Avenatti describes himself cell with Michael Cohen!” ecutors. He also made headlines pricey homes in the wealthy
on Twitter as an attorney he wrote, referring to the Geragos, a CNN contribu- in recent weeks for repre- Orange County communi-
and advocate, but the ac- former Trump lawyer set to tor, has a client list that has senting two women who ties of Newport Beach and
cusations describe “a cor- go to prison next month for included Michael Jackson, accused R&B star R. Kelly Laguna Beach.q