(CNBC)
Dan Mangan March 25, 2019
Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti was arrested Monday on charges he attempted to extort Nike out of up to $25 million by threatening to drive the athletic apparel giant’s market capitalization down by $10 billion by announcing claims of misconduct by company employees.
Avenatti also is charged in a separate federal case out of Los Angeles, where he is accused of embezzling a client’s money “in order to pay his own expenses and debts” of himself, his law firm and coffee company, and of “defrauding a bank in Mississippi,” prosecutors said.
The famously aggressive litigator had represented porn star Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against President Donald Trump and his former lawyer Michael Cohen related to a non-disclosure agreement she signed on the eve of the 2016 presidential election to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Trump in exchange for a $130,000 payment.
Daniels replaced Avenatti as her lawyer earlier this month after a fallout with him.
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