Federal prosecutors have just announced charges against Michael Avenatti.
Avenatti, the former lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels, has been arrested and charged over an alleged attempt to extort millions of dollars from Nike. Southern District of New York prosecutors allege he demanded Nike pay him and a client millions of dollars or he would hold a press conference revealing damaging information about the company, CBS News reports. Prosecutors say he said he would not hold a press conference if Nike retained him and paid him and a co-conspirator "at a minimum, between $15 and $25 million." He allegedly said that if Nike didn't agree to his demands, he would "go take ten billion dollars off your client's market cap."
CNBC reports Avenatti has been arrested and is being charged with wire and bank fraud. He had tweeted earlier on Monday that he would hold a press conference "to disclose a major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by Nike that we have uncovered."
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