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Avenatti Seeks Permission to Subpoena Nike in Extortion Case

Avenatti Seeks Permission to Subpoena Nike in Extortion Case

(Bloomberg) -- Embattled celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti asked a judge for permission to issue subpoenas to Nike Inc. in the criminal case accusing him of trying to extort millions of dollars from the sports apparel company.

In a filing Friday in Manhattan federal court, Avenatti said he wants Nike to hand over text messages and emails that he claims will prove the company engaged in rampant corruption in youth basketball by making large payments to players and their families to keep them affiliated with the company.

The communications are central to Avenatti’s claim that he had legitimate reasons to demand Nike pay him as much as $25 million to conduct an internal investigation of the company. Avenatti said in a filing last month that Nike expressed interest in such an investigation before he suggested being paid to do it, and that the company may be trying to “curry favor with the government” by helping to prosecute him.

Nike has declined to comment on the specifics of the case, relying on a statement it first put out in April. “Nike will not respond to the allegations of an individual facing federal charges of fraud and extortion,” it said in the statement. “Nike will continue its cooperation with the government’s investigation into grassroots basketball and the related extortion case.”

The proposed subpoenas would cover messages between Nike executives discussing payments to players on a California team run by Avenatti’s client, as well as allegedly false invoices intended to mask the true reason for the payments.

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Larson in New York at elarson4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider

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