Michael Avenatti Is Charged With Trying to Extort NikeBy Chris Dolmetsch and Erik Larson
March 25, 2019, 1:05 PM EDT Updated on March 25, 2019, 1:39 PM EDT
California lawyer Michael Avenatti was arrested and charged by federal prosecutors in New York with attempting to extort millions of dollars out of Nike Inc. by threatening to release damaging information about the company.
Avenatti is alleged to have told Nike he would cancel a press conference critical of the sports-apparel company only if it paid an unidentified client $1.5 million, and hired him and another California lawyer to conduct an internal investigation for $15 million to $25 million. Nike did not meet his demands.
“I’ll go take ten billion dollars off your client’s market cap. But I’m not f---ing around,†Avenatti told attorneys for Nike in a March 20 phone call, according to a complaint unsealed Monday. ...
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