Convicted lawyer Michael Avenatti on Thursday pleaded guilty in a federal court in Southern California to multiple fraud charges in a case in which he is accused of stealing nearly $10 million from multiple clients.
Avenatti pled guilty to four counts of wire fraud and one count of endeavoring to obstruct the administration of the Internal Revenue Code, and admitted to misappropriating funds from four of his legal clients, the Justice Department announced.
The four counts of wire fraud each related to one of the four matters in which the disgraced lawyer embezzled money that should have been paid to clients.
Avenatti admitted to the conduct charged in the four counts against him which included “receiving money on behalf of clients into client trust accounts, misappropriating the money, lying to the clients about receiving the money, and in one case, claiming that the money had already been sent to the client,” the DOJ said….