March 25th Update: CNN has reported that federal prosecutors in the Southern District New York have indicted Michael Avenatti for attempting to extract more than $20 million in payments from Nike by threatening to to inflict substantial financial and reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met.
Avenatti and a cooperating witness spoke with Nike lawyers last Wednesday on a call during which Avenatti threatened if his demands weren’t met, “I’ll go take ten billion dollars off your client’s market cap … I’m not fucking around.”
The 48-year-old Avenatti was arrested today in Midtown Manhattan at 12:30 p.m. by FBI agents, about 15 minutes after he tweeted plans to disclose a high school and college basketball-related scandal perpetrated by Nike.
CNN noted Avenatti is facing a second set of charges in California related to wire fraud and bank fraud in the Central District of California.”
Read the original story below.
Rabble rousing lawyer Michael Avanetti published a cryptic tweet this morning (March 25, 2019) in which he announced plans for a press conference tomorrow that would include news of Nike‘s involvement in a major high school/college basketball scandal.
The tweet reads, “Tmrw at 11 am ET, we will be holding a press conference to disclose a major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by @Nike that we have uncovered. This criminal conduct reaches the highest levels of Nike and involves some of the biggest names in college basketball.”
Adidas was recently rocked by a basketball recruiting scandal that ended with three men in early March convicted of pay-for-play schemes steering talented recruits to Adidas-sponsored college basketball. programs to multiple months in prison. All three, Christian Dawkins, Merl Code and James Gatto, were sentenced to multiple months in prison.
Nike’s stock is trading down slightly in response to the news.
Check out Avenatti’s tweet below.