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Exclusive: How a 'nobody' ex-con pushed Avenatti law firm into bankruptcy
His law firm was abruptly forced into bankruptcy by a Florida man who claimed he was owed the relatively meager sum of $28,700.
The Florida bankruptcy judge who handled the case expressed surprise that such a minor debt could threaten to financially topple a multi-million-dollar law firm.
She also questioned the timing of the filing – two days before the deadline set for Avenatti and two other firm employees to be deposed in a long-running arbitration with a former partner, who said he was owed as much as $18 million by Eagan Avenatti.
The whole thing, the judge said, "had the stench of impropriety."
n court papers, Avenatti's lawyers described Tobin as a "private investigator" who'd performed undisclosed services for Avenatti's firm.
But Tobin, 48, is no private investigator, a CNN investigation found.