BREAKING NOW: Michael Avenatti Indicted in Alleged Extortion Scheme Against Nike

Originally published at: BREAKING NOW: Michael Avenatti Indicted in Alleged Extortion Scheme Against Nike | Sean Hannity

Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti was indicted Wednesday in an alleged extortion scheme against clothing manufacturing giant Nike; with prosecutors saying he attempted to gain millions while threatening to publicly “embarrass” the corporation.

“Controversial lawyer Michael Avenatti was indicted on charges of trying to extort athletic shoe giant Nike out of tens of millions of dollars by threatening to go public with embarrassing information about the company, according to federal court documents unsealed in New York City on Wednesday,” reports CNBC.

“The indictment, which Avenatti had said Tuesday was imminent, was expected, as he had already been arrested on a criminal complaint that contained similar allegations of a brazen shakedown effort of Nike by hyper-aggressive attorney in March,” adds the article.

#BREAKING: Michael Avenatti hit with new indictment in alleged extortion of Nike https://t.co/Flf0qRKYTT pic.twitter.com/UBqikKAnlB

— The Hill (@thehill) May 22, 2019

Avenatti allegedly told Nike executives “I’ll take ten billion dollars off your client’s market cap” if they failed to secure the funds.

“The charges in this indictment stem from an extortion scheme in which Michael Avenatti, the defendant… Demanded tens of millions of dollars in payments from Nike, Inc., a multinational public corporation engaged in the marketing and sale of athletic apparel,” states the official court filing.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.