Smarmy lawyer Michael Avenatti has just been charged by federal prosecutors in New York with defrauding adult-film star Stormy Daniels, the client who propelled Avenatti into the national spotlight.
Federal prosecutors say Avenatti ripped off the client that rocketed him to fame, by taking money Daniels was supposed to get from a book deal.
The disgraced Avenatti is already facing one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. He faces up to 22 years in prison if convicted of those charges.
Daniels is not named in the new indictment, but a federal law enforcement official confirmed to Fox News that she is the client who prosecutors claimed Avenatti defrauded.
Avenatti rocketed to fame representing Daniels when she sued to be released from a non-disclosure agreement involving an alleged tryst with President Trump in 2006. He parlayed his notoriety into numerous cable news appearances and even was floated as a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2020.
Avenatti’s Fall From Grace
Avenatti’s fall from grace began back in March, when he was accused by federal prosecutors in New York of operating “an old-fashioned shakedown” by trying to extort between $15 and $25 million from sports apparel giant Nike, part of a string of bombshell claims against the celebrity lawyer.
According to prosecutors, in the case of these latest allegations, Avenatti stole two payments totaling $297,500 from an advance Daniels was supposed to receive from a book deal in the summer of 2018. According to the indictment, Avenatti sent a doctored letter with Daniels’ signature to her literary agent that instructed the agent to divert the money to an account controlled by Avenatti. The lawyer then spent the money “on airfare, hotels, car services, restaurants and meal delivery, online retailers, payroll for his law firm and another business he owned, and insurance.”
The Current Acquisitions Against Michael Avenatti
The indictment said that after Daniels asked Avenatti why she had not received the first payment, Avenatti falsely claimed he was still trying to extract the money from the publisher. Weeks later, the lawyer allegedly “used funds recently received from another source” to pay Daniels the amount she was owed — $148,750.
According to Fox News, soon after that, Avenatti received another payment of $148,750 from Daniels’ agent and used the money this time on personal expenses, including a lease payment on a Ferrari. When Daniels asked for the remaining money, Avenatti allegedly misled her to believe that the book’s publisher was refusing to pay the amount to Daniels’ literary agent.
“Michael Avenatti abused and violated the core duty of an attorney – the duty to his client,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement. “As alleged, he used his position of trust to steal an advance on the client’s book deal. As 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. Far from zealously representing his client, Avenatti, as alleged, instead engaged in outright deception and theft, victimizing rather than advocating for his client.”
In an emailed statement to Fox News, Avenatti said, “I look forward to a jury hearing all of the evidence and passing judgment on my conduct. At no time was any money misappropriated or mishandled. I will be fully exonerated once the relevant emails, contracts, text messages, and documents are presented.”