Already familiar with being sued by ex-wives and ex-employees, ‘creepy porn lawyer’ Michael Avenatti is now being sued by the paraplegic whom he allegedly defrauded of a multi-million dollar settlement.
Geoffrey Johnson, Avenatti’s alleged victim, according to federal prosecutors in California, is preparing to sue the disgraced lawyer for $9.5 million after Avenatti allegedly stole a $4 million settlement from Johnson to pay debts for his struggling coffee business. Avenatti lied to Johnson and wired the bulk of the settlement to himself in 2015.
According to TMZ, Johnson sued the LA County Sheriff’s Department in 2012 claiming its deputies illegally and unnecessarily brutalized him during a wrongful arrest. But all he received after winning the settlement were measly $2,000 “advances”, after Avenatti allegedly forged paperwork to mask the size and timing of the payment.
All told, Avenatti’s client only received about$124,000.
Here’s more from Reuters:
Geoffrey Johnson is seeking at least $9.5 million of compensatory damages, plus punitive damages, from Avenatti and several of his former colleagues in a complaint filed with the Orange County Superior Court in California.
[…]
The claims underlying the lawsuit are also part of federal prosecutors’ criminal case against Avenatti, who faces wire fraud, bank fraud, extortion and several dozen other charges over various matters in California and New York.
We couldn’t think of a better example of poetic justice than this: Avenatti, the lawyer who once threatened to ‘ruin’ Nike with a press conference outlining all of his allegations that they bribed high school athletes, is about to be on the receiving end once again (federal prosecutors in New York and California unveiled the indictments against him during press briefings).
Johnson’s law firm is expected to discuss the case at a press conference on Thursday.
While we wish Johnson the best, to be frank, at this point suing Michael Avenatti is like trying to get blood from a stone.
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2KVYNJp Tyler Durden