Analysis Group Helps Government "Follow the Money" in Successful Prosecution of Criminal Wire Fraud Charges Against Former Attorney Michael Avenatti

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Dec 14, 2022, 09:00 ET

BOSTON, Dec. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A team from Analysis Group, one of the largest international economics consulting firms, supported the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in its successful wire fraud and tax prosecution of former attorney Michael Avenatti. In the matter USA v. Michael J. Avenatti, the DOJ claimed Mr. Avenatti stole millions of dollars from his clients' settlement funds between 2015 and 2019 to clear his personal debts, support his coffee business, and purchase high-end luxury items, including an airplane.

Analysis Group Vice President John Drum, an accounting expert, testified at trial regarding the flows of settlement funds belonging to some of Mr. Avenatti's ex-clients. Mr. Drum's testimony showed that Mr. Avenatti appropriated settlement money being held in trust accounts for individual clients for his own personal gain. While Mr. Avenatti distributed small payments to his clients spaced over many years, Mr. Drum demonstrated these payments amounted to only a fraction of the total due to each client. Further, his testimony showed that these payments did not always originate from the appropriate trust accounts.

Supporting Mr. Drum were a team of economists from Analysis Group, led by Managing Principal T. Christopher Borek, Manager Evan Carter, and Senior Analysts Ryan Keithahn and MyKhe Nquyen.

Following a prolonged, bifurcated trial in the US District Court for the Central District of California that considered wire fraud charges as well as tax fraud charges related to Mr. Avenatti's coffee business, Mr. Avenatti pled guilty to four counts of wire fraud and one count of tax fraud. He was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $7.6 million in restitution to his victims and $3.2 million to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

To learn more about Analysis Group's capabilities, visit AnalysisGroup.com.

About Analysis Group:

Analysis Group is one of the largest international economics consulting firms, with more than 1,000 professionals across 14 offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Since 1981, we have provided expertise in economics, finance, health care analytics, and strategy to top law firms, Fortune Global 500 companies, and government agencies worldwide. Our internal experts, together with our network of affiliated experts from academia, industry, and government, offer our clients exceptional breadth and depth of expertise.

Contact:

Analysis Group
Eric Seymour
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SOURCE Analysis Group