Celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti is facing two new criminal investigations, with one related to his coffee chain, Tully's, reports Business Insider. In one case, Avenatti is accused of defrauding The Peoples Bank and a legal client out of a portion of a $1.6 million settlement, which was related to his business dealings, including his attempts to save Seattle-based Tully's.
Avenatti purchased Tully's in 2013 and since that time, more than 45 suits have been filed against parent company Global Baristas. A federal tax lien showed that the company owed roughly $5 million in unpaid taxes to the Internal Revenue Service in 2017. In March 2018, Tully's abruptly shut down all remaining locations. As part of the federal investigation, an IRS special agent interviewed Tully's employees, alleging that they witnessed signs of financial woes, including inadequate upkeep and issues with suppliers.
According to the complaint, money from Global Baristas' accounts was transferred to bank accounts associated with Avenatti's law firms, with more than $1.7 million in payments being transferred from Global Baristas accounts from 2015 to 2017. Avenatti is accused of attempting to prevent the government from collecting payroll taxes from Global Baristas by "lying to an IRS Revenue Officer, changing contracts, merchant accounts, and bank account information to avoid liens and levies imposed by the IRS, and instructing employees to deposit over $800,000 in cash from Tully's stores...into a bank account associated with a separate entity."
Meanwhile, Avenatti denied being the owner and CEO of Global Baristas, claiming instead that he merely served as general counsel. Investigators were also unable to locate information confirming that Avenatti sold Global Baristas LLC or Global Baristas US, as he claimed he had. Full Story
Related: Tully's May Be Forced Into Bankruptcy; Tully's Coffee Likely to Remain Closed.
from Specialty Food News https://ift.tt/2FBh37E
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