CNBC published on Apr 8, 2019: Michael Avenatti alleges Nike bribed college basketball players. Michael Avennati was arrested for allegedly threatening extortion against Nike. He joins 'Closing Bell' to speak out on the arrest and his charges against the company.
CNBC published on Mar 25, 2019: Nike responds to Michael Avenatti arrest: We 'will not be extorted'. CNBC's "Closing Bell" team and Eric Chemi report on the latest details surrounding the arrest of celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti. Avenatti was charged with trying to extort Nike for $20 million dollars. Chemi breaks down comments from the sports apparel giant.
JUST IN: Federal prosecutors announce charges against @MichaelAvenatti, alleging he tried to extort Nike, threatening to release damaging about the company, if Nike didn't agree to pay millions to him and a client.— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) March 25, 2019
There are more Avenatti charges coming:— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) March 25, 2019
Federal prosecutors in LA will also announce charges of wire fraud and bank fraud against Avenatti at 2p ET. These charges are separate from the charges in SDNY that were announced at roughly the same time.
"The co-conspirator in the Nike matter is celebrity attorney Mark Geragos, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Geragos wasn’t charged in the complaint. A lawyer for Mr. Geragos, Benjamin Brafman, declined to comment on his behalf."https://t.co/cVaZuz6b8q— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 26, 2019
CBS Evening News published on Mar 25, 2019: Michael Avenatti arrested on charges of wire fraud and extortion. Attorney Michael Avenatti, who is known as the former lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels, was arrested on federal charges in two separate cases. He is accused of trying to shake down Nike for millions. Jericka Duncan reports.
CBS News
written by Stafan Becket
Tuesday March 26, 2019
Attorney Michael Avenatti, who came to national prominence as the lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels, was arrested on federal charges in two separate cases in California and New York, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York charged Avenatti for allegedly trying to extort Nike for nearly $20 million. Prosecutors said he and another attorney threatened to release damaging information about the company if it did not meet his demands.
The U.S. attorney in Los Angeles separately announced Avenatti faces bank and wire fraud charges for allegedly embezzling money from a client and defrauding a bank through fake tax returns.
Avenatti was arrested in New York and appeared in federal court Monday afternoon in Manhattan. He was released on a $300,000 personal recognizance bond and ordered to surrender his passport. He is also required to report any transactions of $5,000 or more to the court, and his travel is restricted. He's scheduled to appear in court in California on April 1, with preliminary hearings in New York set for April 25.
When he emerged from court, Avenatti addressed reporters, saying in part, "As all of you know, for the entirety of my career I have fought against the powerful, powerful people and powerful corporations. I will never stop fighting that good fight. I am highly confident that when all of the evidence is laid bare in connection with these cases, when it is all known, when due process occurs, that I will be fully exonerated and justice will be done."
Hours later, he repeated that on Twitter regarding the Nike-related counts:
I want to thank all of my supporters for your kind words and support today. It means a lot to me. I am anxious for people to see what really happened. We never attempted to extort Nike & when the evidence is disclosed, the public will learn the truth about Nike’s crime & coverup.— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 26, 2019
The criminal complaint in the New York case says Avenatti and an alleged co-conspirator, an attorney identified as "CC-1," requested a meeting with Nike's lawyers in New York last Tuesday, March 19. Two of the attorneys represent Nike as outside counsel at the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, and one of the attorneys works for Nike in-house.
CBS News has learned CC-1 is Mark Geragos, the high-profile celebrity attorney whose recent clients include former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the actor Jussie Smollett. Geragos was not charged in the complaint released Monday. His office said he had no comment on the allegations.
During the meeting at Geragos' office, Avenatti said he represented the coach of an amateur athletic union (AAU) basketball team in California whose contract with Nike had not been renewed. He said the coach had evidence of Nike employees funneling illegal payments to top high school basketball prospects and their families.
The coach Avenatti said he represented is Gary Franklin of Los Angeles, CBS News has learned. Franklin is the cofounder and executive director of the California Supreme, a basketball program in Southern California.
Avenatti allegedly threatened to hold a press conference detailing the allegations to coincide with the beginning of the NCAA basketball tournament and Nike's quarterly earnings call. The complaint says Avenatti offered to scrap the press conference if Nike paid his client $1.5 million and hired Avenatti to conduct an internal investigation of the company.
After the meeting later that afternoon, Nike's attorneys contacted the U.S. Attorney's Office to report the alleged extortion attempt.
On March 20, the next day, two of the Nike attorneys held a phone call with Avenatti that was recorded by law enforcement. Avenatti allegedly reiterated his demands for payment for him and his client.
"I'm not f---ing around with this, and I'm not continuing to play games," Avenatti was recorded as saying. "You guys know enough now to know you've got a serious problem. And it's worth more in exposure to me to just blow the lid on this thing. A few million dollars doesn't move the needle for me. I'm just being really frank with you."
"I'll go and I'll go take $10 billion off your client's market cap. But I'm not f***ing around," he said.
On March 21 — the day of the Nike earnings call and the first day of the NCAA Tournament — the group met again in New York, with the Nike attorneys recording the meeting. They asked Avenatti and Geragos whether they could arrange to make a payment without an internal investigation.
"If [Nike] wants to have one confidential settlement and we're done, they can buy that for $22.5 million and we're done," Avenatti is quoted as saying. "Full confidentiality, we ride off into the sunset."
Avenatti set a deadline of Monday, March 25, to reach an agreement and arranged another meeting. Early Monday afternoon, Avenatti tweeted: "Tmrw at 11 am ET, we will be holding a press conference to disclose a major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by @Nike that we have uncovered."
He was arrested when he showed up for the meeting in New York, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said at a press conference.
Tmrw at 11 am ET, we will be holding a press conference 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.— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 25, 2019
In a statement Monday afternoon, Nike said it "will not be extorted or hide information that is relevant to a government investigation."
"Nike has been cooperating with the government's investigation into NCAA basketball for over a year. When Nike became aware of this matter, Nike immediately reported it to federal prosecutors," the company said. "Nike firmly believes in ethical and fair play, both in business and sports, and will continue to assist the prosecutors."
In the California case, prosecutors charged Avenatti with wire fraud, saying he negotiated a $1.6 million settlement for a client but used the money for personal use and to pay expenses for his coffee business.
Avenatti is also charged with bank fraud in California. According to the criminal complaint, Avenatti lied about his income to obtain more than $4 million in loans from a Mississippi bank in 2014. The complaint alleges Avenatti gave The Peoples Bank bogus tax returns showing more than $14 million in earnings for the three preceding years. In fact, the complaint alleges, Avenatti never filed returns for those years, and owed the IRS $850,000 from prior years.
Avenatti came to prominence for his representation of Daniels, the adult film star who alleged she had an affair with President Trump and was paid for her silence in the weeks before the 2016 election. On Monday, Daniels said she cut ties with Avenatti more than a month ago "after discovering that he had dealt with me extremely dishonestly."
Wow. What an amazing last 48 hours. I can’t stop watching. 😳 https://t.co/dzJdbIxxzx— Brad Parscale (@parscale) March 25, 2019
.@MichaelAvenatti, your record over the last 7 months now includes bank fraud, misleading Congress, defrauding clients, extortion, and felony domestic violence.— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) March 25, 2019
Game, set, match @DonaldJTrumpJr https://t.co/23pMuCjsV1
Avenatti 2020 just became Avenatti 20 to 25— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) March 25, 2019
My statement regarding my former attorney Mr. Avenatti.. pic.twitter.com/9aKYCPNN6y— Stormy Daniels (@StormyDaniels) March 25, 2019
Fun times: @cnn banned me from its airwaves for saying I loved the first amendment and boobs, but let Michael Avenatti appear on air hundreds of times to peddle his outright lies and smears. Gotta love 21st century journalism.— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 25, 2019
Remember that Senate Democrats literally tried to derail a Supreme Court nominee on the basis of claims made by Michael Avenatti. Shame on you, @SenFeinstein. Shame on every single one of you.— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) March 25, 2019
Some of Avenatti's purchases while not paying taxes, per @latimes: "217,000 at Neiman Marcus; $117,000 at Jewelers on Time, a luxury watch store; $277,236 to Porsche dealers; $100,000-a-month rent for a waterfront house on Lido Isle in Newport Beach" https://t.co/Y776uQO22w— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) March 27, 2019
Never forget avenatti threatened to sue me and @peterjhasson for reporting on his shady business historyhttps://t.co/aLh9NZE9GX— Joe Gabriel Simonson (@SaysSimonson) March 25, 2019
Whenever any Democrat acts like they hardly knew Avenatti, remember that they trusted the sleazy lawyer at one time. https://t.co/Zsf7vJeJ4X— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 28, 2019
BREAKING: Jussie Smollett Attorney Mark Geragos is alleged co-conspirator with Michael Avenatti.— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) March 25, 2019
BREAKING: Alleged co-conspirator with Michael Avenatti is celebrity attorney Mark Geragos, who is a legal analyst on CNN and also represents Jussie Smollett who was indicted for staging a hate crime. https://t.co/JXa0HMBgHE— BNL NEWS (@BreakingNLive) March 25, 2019
CNN and MSNBC had Avenatti on as a guest a combined 108 times in just two months in 2018. CNN created both the environment and Avenatti. https://t.co/kubsd9LWvb— Chadwick Moore (@Chadwick_Moore) March 25, 2019
Attorney Mark Geragos moonlighted as a CNN legal analyst... but not anymore, per a CNN spokeswoman. He's no longer a contributor. https://t.co/RcyrdQignk— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 25, 2019
Flashback: CNN's @brianstelter touts Michael Avenatti as a "serious" contender for 2020.— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 25, 2019
"And looking ahead to 2020, one reason I’m taking you seriously as a contender is because of your presence on cable news.” pic.twitter.com/c5JEdVrLiJ
In the past 24 hours, Robert Mueller has cleared Trump on collusion and Michael Avenatti has been charged by federal prosectors. lmao— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) March 25, 2019
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