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Michael Avenatti Busted for Stealing From Clients

By George Khoury, Esq. on April 12, 2019

The now-former-attorney for Stormy Daniels in her case against President Trump, Michael Avenatti, was just indicted in California on a multitude of criminal charges.

Although Avenatti may be best known for his representation of Stormy Daniels, which led to multiple television appearances, these charges originated from an IRS investigation into his coffee business, Tully’s. But the IRS investigation soon expanded to discover evidence showing Avenatti allegedly lied to clients, embezzled settlement money from clients, lied on a multi-million dollar mortgage application, and committed perjury.

Avenatti Under Fire

Michael Avenatti’s legal troubles are really starting to add up. The federal charges out of California include 36 separate counts, and that doesn’t even include the federal charges he is facing out of New York. Currently, Avenatti is free on a $300,000 bond for that case.

While Avenatti maintained his innocence in a tweet after the charges were announced, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles blasted the attorney for “stealing clients’ money.” It further explained that the charges against Avenatti show that he received a $4 million settlement for a paraplegic client, but never paid the client their share and lied about having received the money, though records show it was wired to Avenatti in 2015 from the County of Los Angeles.

Shockingly, another Avenatti client never received their $2.5 million settlement, and the charges allege that he used those funds to buy a private jet. Avenatti is expected back in court on April 29, for his arraignment, where it is expected that he will plead not guilty.

A Lawyer That Serves Coffee?

Avenatti did get some media attention over his purchase of Tully’s Coffee, as he was a part owner of Global Baristas, the company that purchased Tully’s during its bankruptcy in 2012. Unfortunately for Avenatti, actor Patrick Dempsey backed out of the partnership with the attorney and sued, leaving Avenatti to run the coffee business, which ended in calamity last year. 

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