{"id":122992,"date":"2019-05-22T16:04:09","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T20:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=122992"},"modified":"2019-05-22T16:04:47","modified_gmt":"2019-05-22T20:04:47","slug":"democrat-attorney-avenatti-facing-yet-another-indictment-for-fleecing-stormy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=122992","title":{"rendered":"Democrat Attorney Michael Avenatti Facing Yet Another Indictment for Fleecing Stormy"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Avenatti Facing Indictment For Allegedly Stealing From Stormy Daniels<\/h1>\n<p><!--more-->ZeroHedge.com<\/p>\n<div class=\"clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item\">\n<p>For disgraced &#8216;creepy porn lawyer&#8217; Michael Avenatti, the hits just won&#8217;t stop. After being indicted by prosecutors on both coasts over allegations that he tried to extort Nike and &#8211; in a separate incident &#8211; stole settlement money from a client to offset losses in one of his businesses, federal prosecutors in Manhattan are preparing to charge Avenatti with additional financial crimes.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/2019.05.22avenatti.JPG?itok=YGE4pCCf\" data-image-external-href=\"\" data-image-href=\"\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/2019.05.22avenatti.JPG?itok=YGE4pCCf\" data-link-option=\"0\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/2019.05.22avenatti.JPG?itok=ehRZy2Jg 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 1280px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/2019.05.22avenatti.JPG?itok=ehRZy2Jg 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 480px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/2019.05.22avenatti.JPG?itok=ehRZy2Jg 1x, https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/2019.05.22avenatti.JPG?itok=ehRZy2Jg 2x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 1024px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/2019.05.22avenatti.JPG?itok=ehRZy2Jg 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_mobile\/public\/inline-images\/2019.05.22avenatti.JPG?itok=YGE4pCCf 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/inline-images\/2019.05.22avenatti.JPG\" alt=\"Avennatti\" width=\"500\" height=\"298\" data-entity-type=\"file\" data-entity-uuid=\"e9a15a95-c93f-4ee4-b9de-6fbc92215900\" data-responsive-image-style=\"inline_images\" \/><\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The new charges, first reported by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/feds-expected-charge-avenatti-dealings-stormy-daniels-sources\/story?id=63203832\">ABC News<\/a>, are expected to include accusations that he stole from Stormy Daniels when he was representing the porn star during her crusade against President Trump.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">JUST IN: Federal prosecutors expected to file additional charges against Michael Avenatti, accusing him of misappropriating money that was supposed to be paid to Stormy Daniels, sources tell <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ABC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ABC<\/a> News. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wijkFy5yDJ\">https:\/\/t.co\/wijkFy5yDJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/evanmcmurry\/status\/1131236158715965440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 22, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, Avenatti said in a tweet that &#8220;no monies relating to Ms. Daniels were ever misappropriated or mishandled. She received millions of dollars worth of legal services and we expended huge sums on expenses.&#8221; Avenatti added that Daniels only paid &#8220;$100 (not a typo)&#8221; for the &#8216;services&#8217; she received &#8211; which memorably included being asked to repay President Trump&#8217;s legal fees after her defamation crusade went off the rails.<\/p>\n<div class=\"SandboxRoot env-bp-350\" data-twitter-event-id=\"0\">\n<div id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"EmbeddedTweet EmbeddedTweet--cta js-clickToOpenTarget tweet-InformationCircle-widgetParent\" lang=\"en\" data-click-to-open-target=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/evanmcmurry\/status\/1131236158715965440\" data-iframe-title=\"Twitter Tweet\" data-scribe=\"page:tweet\" data-twitter-event-id=\"1\">\n<div class=\"EmbeddedTweet-tweetContainer\">\n<div class=\"EmbeddedTweet-tweet\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In a particularly amusing series of tweets from Tuesday, Avenatti revealed that more charges would be coming, and griped that he was being &#8216;persecuted&#8217; by the Feds while &#8216;the biggest criminal in the US&#8217; (Trump) goes free.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/Av.JPG?itok=s0qFKghf\" data-image-external-href=\"\" data-image-href=\"\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/Av.JPG?itok=s0qFKghf\" data-link-option=\"0\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/Av.JPG?itok=OO9RFemt 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 1280px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/Av.JPG?itok=OO9RFemt 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 480px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/Av.JPG?itok=OO9RFemt 1x, https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/Av.JPG?itok=OO9RFemt 2x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 1024px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/Av.JPG?itok=OO9RFemt 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_mobile\/public\/inline-images\/Av.JPG?itok=s0qFKghf 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/inline-images\/Av.JPG\" alt=\"Av\" width=\"500\" height=\"304\" data-entity-type=\"file\" data-entity-uuid=\"2222dbb4-7904-4a0c-935d-f1eccf3fb96a\" data-responsive-image-style=\"inline_images\" \/><\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/avtwo.JPG?itok=tkhpCHk-\" data-image-external-href=\"\" data-image-href=\"\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/avtwo.JPG?itok=tkhpCHk-\" data-link-option=\"0\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/avtwo.JPG?itok=qGREyGV7 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 1280px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/avtwo.JPG?itok=qGREyGV7 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 480px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/avtwo.JPG?itok=qGREyGV7 1x, https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/avtwo.JPG?itok=qGREyGV7 2x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 1024px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/avtwo.JPG?itok=qGREyGV7 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_mobile\/public\/inline-images\/avtwo.JPG?itok=tkhpCHk- 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/inline-images\/avtwo.JPG\" alt=\"Av\" width=\"500\" height=\"277\" data-entity-type=\"file\" data-entity-uuid=\"de0db978-f5b2-4903-bef8-e0bfd034fd27\" data-responsive-image-style=\"inline_images\" \/><\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n<p>With all the charges piling up against him, Avenatti is giving another famous Italian-American &#8211; one John Joseph Gotti &#8211; a run for his money. Assuming the charges all stick, we&#8217;re very much looking forward to watching Avenatti represent himself during the media circus these trials will inevitably generate.<\/p>\n<p>*\u00a0 *\u00a0 *<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-sdny\/pr\/us-attorney-announces-indictment-michael-avenatti-aggravated-identity-theft-engaging\"><em>Full Justice Department Statement:<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><u><em><strong>U.S. Attorney Announces Indictment Of Michael Avenatti For Aggravated Identity Theft, Engaging In A Scheme To Defraud A Former Client<\/strong><\/em><\/u><\/p>\n<p><u><em><strong>Avenatti Separately Indicted on Previously-Announced Charges Relating to a Scheme to Extort the Athletic Apparel Company Nike, Inc.<\/strong><\/em><\/u><\/p>\n<p>Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (\u201cFBI\u201d), announced the indictment today of MICHAEL AVENATTI on fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.\u00a0 As alleged, AVENATTI used misrepresentations and a fraudulent document purporting to bear his client\u2019s name and signature to convince his client\u2019s literary agent to divert money owed to AVENATTI\u2019s client to an account controlled by AVENATTI.\u00a0 AVENATTI then spent the money principally for his own personal and business purposes.\u00a0 The fraud and aggravated identity theft case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts of the Southern District of New York.<\/p>\n<p>AVENATTI was separately indicted today on extortion charges, which were the subject of a previous Complaint and arrest of AVENATTI, relating to his alleged attempt to extract more than $20 million in payments from Nike, Inc., 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.\u00a0 That case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe of the Southern District of New York.<\/p>\n<p>Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:\u00a0 \u201cMichael Avenatti abused and violated the core duty of an attorney \u2013 the duty to his client. \u00a0As alleged, he used his position of trust to steal an advance on the client\u2019s book deal. \u00a0As alleged, he blatantly lied to and stole from his client to maintain his extravagant lifestyle, including to pay for, among other things, a monthly car payment on a Ferrari.\u00a0 Far from zealously representing his client, Avenatti, as alleged, instead engaged in outright deception and theft, victimizing rather than advocating for his client.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the allegations in the Indictment unsealed today<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-sdny\/pr\/us-attorney-announces-indictment-michael-avenatti-aggravated-identity-theft-engaging#_ftn1\">[1]<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>From August 2018 through February 2019, AVENATTI defrauded a client (\u201cVictim-1\u201d) by diverting money owed to Victim-1 to AVENATTI\u2019s control and use. \u00a0After assisting Victim-1 in securing a book contract, AVENATTI allegedly stole a significant portion of Victim-1\u2019s advance on that contract. \u00a0He did so by, among other things, sending a fraudulent and unauthorized letter purporting to contain Victim-1\u2019s signature to Victim-1\u2019s literary agent, which instructed the agent to send payments not to Victim-1 but to a bank account controlled by AVENATTI.\u00a0 As alleged, Victim-1 had not signed or authorized the letter, and did not even know of its existence.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, prior to Victim-1\u2019s literary agent wiring the second of four installment payments due to Victim-1 as part of the book advance, AVENATTI sent a letter to Victim-1\u2019s literary agent purportedly signed by Victim-1 that instructed the literary agent to send all future payments to a client trust account in Victim-1\u2019s name and controlled by AVENATTI.\u00a0 The literary agent then wired $148,750 to the account, which AVENATTI promptly began spending for his own purposes, including on airfare, hotels, car services, restaurants and meal delivery, online retailers, payroll for his law firm and another business he owned, and insurance.\u00a0 When Victim-1 began inquiring of AVENATTI as to why Victim-1 had not received the second installment, AVENATTI lied to Victim-1, telling Victim-1 that he was still attempting to obtain the payment from Victim-1\u2019s publisher.\u00a0 Approximately one month after diverting the payment, AVENATTI used funds recently received from another source to pay $148,750 to Victim-1, so that Victim-1 would not realize that AVENATTI had previously taken and used Victim-1\u2019s money.<\/p>\n<p>Approximately one week later, pursuant to AVENATTI\u2019s earlier fraudulent instructions, the literary agent sent another payment of $148,750 of Victim-1\u2019s book advance to the client account controlled by AVENATTI.\u00a0 AVENATTI promptly began spending the money for his own purposes, including to make payments to individuals with whom AVENATTI had a personal relationship, to make a monthly lease payment on a luxury automobile, and to pay for airfare, dry cleaning, hotels, restaurants and meals, payroll, and insurance costs.\u00a0 Moreover, to conceal his scheme, and despite repeated requests to AVENATTI, as Victim-1\u2019s lawyer, for assistance in obtaining the book payment that Victim-1 believed was missing, AVENATTI led Victim-1 to believe that Victim-1\u2019s publisher was refusing to make the payment to the literary agent, when, as AVENATTI knew, the publisher had made the payment to the literary agent, who had then sent the money to AVENATTI pursuant to AVENATTI\u2019s fraudulent instructions.<\/p>\n<p>*\u00a0 *\u00a0 *<\/p>\n<p><strong>AVENATTI, 48, of Los Angeles, California, is charged in the fraud and aggravated identity theft indictment with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory term of imprisonment of two years in addition to the sentence imposed for the wire fraud charge.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>AVENATTI is charged in the extortion indictment with one count of conspiracy to transmit interstate communications with intent to extort, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, one count of transmission of interstate communications with intent to extort, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison, and one count of extortion, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>The maximum potential sentences in both cases are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Berman praised the work of the FBI and the Special Agents of the United States Attorney\u2019s Office for the Southern District of New York, and noted that the investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>The cases are being handled by the Office\u2019s Public Corruption Unit.\u00a0 Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Podolsky, Robert L. Boone, and Robert B. Sobelman are in charge of the prosecutions.<\/p>\n<p>*\u00a0 *\u00a0 *<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"scribd_iframe_embed\" title=\"u.s. v. Michael Avenatti 19 Crim 373 Indictment Gardephe\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/embeds\/411134142\/content?start_page=1&amp;view_mode=scroll&amp;show_recommendations=false&amp;access_key=key-ox4Oc71cWu28q1Ra3MG3\" width=\"100%\" height=\"600\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-aspect-ratio=\"null\" data-auto-height=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"scribd_iframe_embed\" title=\"u.s. v. Michael Avenatti 19 Crim 374 Indictment Batts\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/embeds\/411134472\/content?start_page=1&amp;view_mode=scroll&amp;show_recommendations=false&amp;access_key=key-oDOrz0vpbL3jCIezvlzF\" width=\"100%\" height=\"600\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-auto-height=\"true\" data-aspect-ratio=\"null\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/news\/2019-05-22\/avenatti-facing-indictment-allegedly-stealing-stormy-daniels\">https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/news\/2019-05-22\/avenatti-facing-indictment-allegedly-stealing-stormy-daniels<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Avenatti Facing Indictment For Allegedly Stealing From Stormy Daniels<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=122992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122992\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=122992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=122992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=122992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}