Celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti was indicted by federal prosecutors Wednesday for stealing the identity of his former client, Stormy Daniels, in order to steal money she was owed for a tell-all book about her efforts to expose President Trump.
Daniels, a pornographer whose given name is Stephanie Clifford, is not named in the but the timeline and other details laid out in the indictment make clear that she is the client in question.
"Specifically, prior to Victim-1's literary agent wiring the second of four installment payments due to Victim-1 as part of the book advance, AVENATTI sent a letter to Victim-1's literary agent purportedly signed by Victim-1 that instructed the literary agent to send all future payments to a client trust account in Victim-1's name and controlled by AVENATTI," reads a statement issued by the Southern District of New York announcing the indictment. "The literary agent then wired $148,750 to the account, which AVENATTI promptly began spending for his own purposes, including on airfare, hotels, car services, restaurants and meal delivery, online retailers, payroll for his law firm and another business he owned, and insurance."
Comments
Post a Comment