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Nike Says It Reported Michael Avenatti to Prosecutors in Extortion Case

Nike Says It Reported Michael Avenatti to Prosecutors in Extortion Case

(Bloomberg) -- Nike Inc. said it’s cooperating with a government investigation into NCAA basketball and alerted federal prosecutors when attorney Michael Avenatti allegedly tried to extort money from the sports-apparel manufacturer.

“Nike will not be extorted or hide information that is relevant to a government investigation,” the company said Monday in an email. “When Mr. Avenatti attempted to extort Nike over this matter, Nike with the assistance of outside counsel at Boies Schiller Flexner, aided the investigation.”

Nike Says It Reported Michael Avenatti to Prosecutors in Extortion Case

Avenatti, who represented porn star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against President Donald Trump, was arrested in New York in connection with charges he tried to extort Nike and for unrelated case in Los Angeles, where he is accused of bank and wire fraud. He was charged with embezzling a client’s money to pay his debts and defrauding a bank with false tax returns to obtain loans.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eben Novy-Williams in New York at enovywilliam@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum

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