Michael Avenatti is being accused of secretly keeping money from one of his clients after getting the client a settlement, spending the money on himself, then telling the client that the funds from the settlement had not been received yet. The client, Gregory Barela, said Avenatti “was operating his law firm in a Ponzi scheme like manner.”
According to The Daily Beast, Barela filed a statement of claims with Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (JAMS), a private arbitration organization, arguing that after Avenatti pocketed the money from the settlement, he turned around and offered to lend some of the funds back to Barela with 10% interest.
The claim, which was shown to The Daily Beast by Barela’s attorney, states, “Avenatti was operating his law firm in a Ponzi scheme like manner, taking settlement proceeds received for clients to pay off debts, pay the other individual Defendants’ salaries and bonuses, and fund his lavish lifestyle, while telling clients that the settlement proceeds had not been received or would be received at a later date.”
The Daily Beast reports that according to the statement from Barela’s attorney, Avenatti and a third party reached a settlement for Barela, but in January 2018 the third party deposited money into an account from which Avenatti would transfer the funds to Barela, and Avenatti later informed Barela the money had never been deposited, prompting months of worry for Barela and repeated queries of Avenatti as to the whereabouts of the money. Eventually, according to Barela, Avenatti made the offer of a loan, but Barela had now decided to hire attorneys who found out from the third party that they had already paid Avenatti. – READ MORE