Michael Avenatti Indicted On 36 Counts By Grand Jury
- Thread starter Banjo
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"CNN's favorite guestwas indicted by a federal grand jury in California on 36 counts. "
heh, funny dat.
Avenatti indicted on 36 counts of tax dodging, perjury, theft from clients and other crimes
By MICHAEL FINNEGAN
APR 11, 2019 | 8:35 AM
A federal grand jury in Santa Ana has indicted Los Angeles lawyer Michael Avenatti in a wide array of alleged financial crimes. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
In a sweeping expansion of the criminal charges against Michael Avenatti, a federal grand jury has indicted the Los Angeles lawyer on 36 counts of fraud, perjury, failure to pay taxes, embezzlement and other financial crimes.
Avenatti stole millions of dollars from five clients and used a tangled web of shell companies and bank accounts to cover up the theft, the Santa Ana grand jury alleged in an indictment that prosecutors will make public Thursday.
One of the clients, Geoffrey Ernest Johnson, was a mentally ill paraplegic on disability who won a $4-million settlement of a suit against Los Angeles County. The money was wired to Avenatti in January 2015, but he hid it from Johnson for years, according to the indictment.
In 2017, Avenatti received $2.75 million in proceeds from another client’s legal settlement, but concealed that too, the indictment says. The next day, he put $2.5 million of that money into the purchase of a private jet for Passport 420, LLC, a company he effectively owned, according to prosecutors.
At the time, Avenatti and his businesses owed millions of dollars in back taxes, the government claimed, and his Newport Beach law firm, Eagan Avenatti, was weeks from bankruptcy.
Federal agents seized the Honda HA-420 jet at Santa Barbara Airport on Wednesday under a court-approved warrant that remains under seal, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.
The breadth of Avenatti’s alleged crimes is clear in the maximum sentence he would face if convicted on all counts: 335 years in prison.
In a separate federal case in New York, Avenatti faces up to 47 more years if convicted on charges of trying to extort more than $20 million from Nike, the sportswear giant. An indictment in that case is expected soon.
Avenatti arrested and charged with embezzlement and attempt to extort Nike »
Avenatti, who is free on a $300,000 bond, tweeted Thursday morning that he’d made many powerful enemies over the last two decades.
“I am entitled to a FULL presumption of innocence and am confident that justice will be done once ALL of the facts are known,” he wrote shortly after U.S. attorney Nick Hanna summoned media to a Los Angeles news conference to announce the new charges.
His lawyer, John Littrell, said the indictment proves nothing.
“We intend to fully investigate the charges and provide Mr. Avenatti the robust defense he deserves,” Littrell said.
The twin criminal cases have put Avenatti’s legal career in jeopardy just a year after he rocketed to fame as the hard-charging and telegenic attorney for adult-film actress Stormy Daniels in her battle to nullify a nondisclosure agreement with President Trump.
He lost both of her lawsuits, and Daniels now owes the president nearly $300,000 in legal fees, more than double the $130,000 in hush money that Trump paid her to keep quiet about their alleged 2006 affair.
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In the California case, Avenatti was initially charged with bank and wire fraud, now eclipsed by a wide array of other alleged crimes. Prosecutors say he submitted phony tax returns and financial statements to Peoples Bank of Mississippi to secure more than $4.1 million in business loans.
He is also accused of embezzling from another client’s settlement of $1.6 million, which Avenatti denied receiving when he’d actually spent it all on personal expenses, prosecutors said.
by Avenatti’s former law partner Jason Frank, the grand jury accused Avenatti of signing multiple false court statements, under penalty of perjury, hiding substantial revenue from Frank, the IRS and other creditors.
What i find unfathomable about this story is the fact that Avenatti was drawing all this attention to himself while he was committing all these criminal acts in the background.
You would think if you were robbing everyone blind, from the government to your own clients, that you would want to maintain a low profile.
I guess the guy had such a big ego he thought he was going to get away with it.
You would think if you were robbing everyone blind, from the government to your own clients, that you would want to maintain a low profile.
I guess the guy had such a big ego he thought he was going to get away with it.
My thoughts exactly.
It certainly doesBut he's got his own AG, and The slayer does not
If Trump had his own AG he would be meeting out on the tarmac to settle some issues the way the dems did.
Now you tards are arguing that Trump apparently had his own independent counsel. Since that is not working you are trying to move over to the AG. Also inconvenient for tardsters is the fact that Rosenstein participated in the firing of Comey and also in the conclusion-with Barr- that there was not sufficient evidence to prosecute trump for anything. Dems are not going after Rosenstein because you have not figured out what your rap is yet. Does Trump own Rosenstein too? Yeh, not gonna work.
good fucking riddance. he certainly fucked-up the momentum and the sentiment during the "beerboy" Kavanaugh's hearings. Conservatives should be grateful for his shenanigans.