Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti was arrested on Monday (local time) for allegedly extorting more than USD 20 million from Nike.
According to the CNN, Avenatti, who represented adult film star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against US President Donald Trump, will appear in the court on Monday.
According to the criminal complaint, Avenatti met in March with an attorney for Nike and threatened to "disclose" a major high school/college basketball scandal. "I'll go take $10 billion dollars off your client's market cap ... I'm not f***ing around," said Avenatti.
Earlier in the day, Avenatti also 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. This criminal conduct reaches the highest levels of Nike and involves some of the biggest names in college basketball."
In addition to the extortion charges, Avenatti will also be charged for several other frauds.
"Avenatti was arrested pursuant to a criminal complaint alleging he embezzled a client's money in order to pay his own expenses and debts -- as well as those of his coffee business and law firm -- and also defrauded a bank by using phoney tax returns to obtain millions of dollars in loans," Hill quoted the Los Angeles' Justice Department as saying.
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