He also demanded $1.5m (\u00a31.13m) for an individual he claimed to represent.<\/p>\n
Mr Avenatti reportedly threatened to take $10bn (\u00a37.56bn) off Nike’s market value.<\/p>\n
He was arrested in New York on Monday, shortly after announcing that he would hold a news conference about a scandal surrounding Nike on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“A suit and tie does not mask the fact that, at its core, this was an old-fashioned shakedown,” said prosecutor Geoffrey Berman told reporters.<\/p>\n
Nike said in a statement it would “not be extorted or hide information that is relevant to a government investigation”.<\/p>\n
The company said it immediately reported the matter to federal prosecutors.<\/p>\n
What other charges is Avenatti facing?<\/h2>\n
In another case in Los Angeles, Mr Avenatti\u00a0has been charged<\/a>\u00a0with embezzling money from a client and defrauding a bank.<\/p>\n Los Angeles prosecutor Nick Hanna said Mr Avenatti describes himself as an “attorney, advocate and fighter for good” on social media, while in fact he “fights for his own selfish interests”.<\/p>\n Prosecutors say that he negotiated a $1.6m settlement for a client, but only gave them a “bogus” agreement with a false payment date.<\/p>\n He allegedly then collected the settlement in secret and “advanced” $130,000 to his client, using the rest to support his “lavish lifestyle”.<\/p>\n Mr Avenatti is also accused of falsifying documents to secure a loan from a Mississippi bank.<\/p>\n He is due to appear in court in California on 1 April and in New York on 25 April.<\/p>\n Mr Avenatti has formerly represented Stormy Daniels, who is suing the president to get out of a non-disclosure agreement she signed before the 2016 election. The non-disclosure agreement related to an affair she said he had with Mr Trump in 2006.<\/p>\n On Saturday,\u00a0he tweeted<\/a>\u00a0that the president should be indicted for colluding with his former lawyer “to violate the law and commit crimes.”<\/p>\n Ms Daniels,\u00a0in a tweet<\/a>, said on Monday that she had terminated Mr Avenatti’s contract “more than a month ago… after discovering that he had dealt with me extremely dishonestly”.<\/p>\n “Knowing what I know now about Michael, I’m saddened but not shocked regarding his arrest.”<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What about Stormy Daniels?<\/h2>\n