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Avenatti, 50, is accused in California of defrauding a minimum of 5 former purchasers of his former regulation agency, one a paraplegic, by stealing almost $10 million in settlement funds from them.
He was initially charged in 2019 in a 36-count indictment that included counts of embezzlement, wire fraud, tax evasion, chapter fraud and financial institution fraud; the trial going down considerations solely the ten wire fraud counts. The rest of the counts will likely be tried later.
Avenatti is alleged to have negotiated settlements on behalf of the previous purchasers of his former agency, Eagen Avenatti LLP, then had the settlement proceeds deposited right into a checking account he managed, mendacity to his purchasers in regards to the phrases of the deal to stop them from discovering the funds had already been paid, improperly, to him.
He stated on the time of the indictment that “Any declare that any monies due purchasers have been mishandled is bogus nonsense.”
For Avenatti, who grew to become a nationwide determine throughout his illustration of adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, the primary Los Angeles trial is only one of a number of extra felony issues he faces.
On high of a second trial in Los Angeles on the remaining counts within the case involving purchasers of his former agency, he faces yet one more federal felony trial in New York subsequent 12 months on prices he cheated Daniels out of $300,000 from her e book advance. Daniels and Avenatti parted methods after he represented her throughout a federal investigation of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s position in paying hush cash to silence her allegations of an affair with Trump earlier than he was president. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels.
Earlier this month, Avenatti appeared in court docket in New York, the place a choose sentenced him in his first felony case to 30 months in jail for making an attempt to extort hundreds of thousands of {dollars} from Nike.
Amid tears, Avenatti informed the choose he had deep regrets about his conduct, saying he had “betrayed my very own values, my pals, my household and myself.”
“I, and I alone, have destroyed my profession, my relationships, my life,” he stated.
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