Sean “Diddy” Combs.
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Federal agents searched homes of hip-hop mogul Sean Combs in Los Angeles and Miami as part of a criminal investigation in New York, NBC News reported, citing sources.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents who searched Combs’ properties were authorized to search them by warrants from the federal court in Manhattan, months after Combs was accused of serious sexual misconduct in a series of lawsuits, law enforcement officials said.
According to NBC, Combs, 54, had his phones confiscated in Miami before he was scheduled to leave for a trip to the Bahamas.
A source familiar with the situation told NBC that three women and a man in New York were being questioned by federal authorities in connection with an investigation involving possible sex trafficking, sexual assault, the promotion and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms Combs is also known as “Diddy”, “Puff Daddy” and “P. Diddy”.
Interviews with three additional women identified as “Jane Does” are planned.
“Today, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York conducted law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners,” Homeland Security said in a statement to NBC 4 Los Angeles.
Police officers and vehicles are seen outside Diddy’s Beverly Hills estate on March 25, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
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Benjamin Brafman, a New York attorney who represented Combs, did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Combs has denied the civil allegations against him.
The raids come a month after a music producer named Rodney “Li Rod” Jones filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court alleging that Combs sexually harassed, drugged and threatened him while he lived and traveled with Combs.
Tyrone Blackburn, an attorney for Jones, and two women who have sued Combs said in a statement to NBC News: “We applaud the federal government’s raids today; “However, today’s events will not prevent or delay my clients’ pending litigation and upcoming claims for justice and resolution by the Combs RICO Enterprise.”
Police officers and vehicles are seen outside Diddy’s Beverly Hills estate on March 25, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
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Douglas Wigdor, a New York lawyer for singer Casandra Ventura who quickly settled a bombshell lawsuit against Combs last fall accusing him of raping and sex trafficking her, said he is also representing a “Jane Doe” in the federal investigation Combs.
“We will always support law enforcement as they seek to prosecute those who have broken the law,” Wigdor said in a statement.
“Hopefully this is the start of a process that will hold Mr. Combs accountable for his depraved conduct,” the attorney said.
Combs was sued in federal court in Manhattan by Ventura, known as Cassie.
Cassie’s lawsuit said that in 2005, when she was 19, Combs lured her into a professional relationship by signing her to his label, Bad Boy Records, and within a few years persuaded her to have a sexual relationship and ” a…” His lifestyle was characterized by excessive alcohol and drug abuse and he required her to obtain illegal prescriptions to satisfy his own addiction.
The lawsuit alleged that Combs raped Cassie in her home after she tried to leave him, “blew up” another man’s car after learning of his romantic interest in her, and beat her often and kicked.
Cassie and Combs agreed to settle their complaint over undisclosed terms just one day after the lawsuit was filed.
But after that settlement, two other women, Liza Gardner and Joie Dickerson-Neal, accused Combs of sexually abusing them in their own lawsuits.
A fourth woman, identified in court records as Jane Doe, sued Combs in December, accusing him of raping her with the former president of his record label and another person two decades ago, when she was 17.
Blackburn, the attorney, represents Gardner and Jane Doe.
An attorney for Dickerson-Neal declined to comment to NBC News about the raids on Combs’ homes.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
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2024-03-27 13:37:22
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