Federal officials raided the houses of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in Los Angeles and Miami
Reuters, March 25, Los Angeles, – Hip-hop artist Sean “Diddy” Combs is the subject of an investigation by US Department of Homeland Security investigators, who have searched his homes in the Miami and Los Angeles regions, the department announced on Monday.
Agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in New York oversaw the investigation after Combs was accused of sex trafficking in a federal court case brought by a former girlfriend in November.
In his own words, Combs, 54, is innocent and his accusers were only looking for “a quick payday.” Ben Brafman, his attorney in New York, did not immediately reply to Reuters’s requests for comment.
Los Angeles television stations aired aerial camera footage of Combs’ opulent mansion in the affluent Holmby Hills district of the city being raided by HSI investigators and other law enforcement officers.
Although it was unclear whether any arrests had been made, Los Angeles City News Service stated that multiple persons were being held outside the residence.
According to local news sources, the rap mogul’s Miami-area house was the target of a search order executed by federal officials. Officers were seen entering and exiting his Star Island residence near Miami Beach on Reuters video, and one of the agents was seen carrying a package of materials from the house.
It was unknown where Combs was during the raids.
HSI spokespersons responded to a Reuters inquiry by saying: “Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners.”
The nature of the probe was not further explained in the announcement. Under its extensive jurisdiction, HSI is able to look into the sex trafficking industry as well as other unlawful movements of people, money, products, technology, and contraband into and out of the country.
R&B singer Cassandra Ventura filed a lawsuit against Combs in mid-November in federal court in Manhattan, claiming that during the course of their ten-year love and professional relationship, he had raped her, sexually abused her, and physically mistreated her.
Among the main claims made in Ventura’s lawsuit was that Combs coerced her into performing sexual acts with male prostitutes he hired while he observed and recorded the interactions.
Federal, New York, and California laws were violated in relation to sex trafficking and human trafficking, according to the lawsuit.
The following day, Ventura and Combs—who have gone by names like P. Diddy, Puff Daddy, and Diddy—announced that they had reached a confidential settlement.
At the time, Brafman claimed that his client stood by his “flat-out denial” of Ventura’s charges and that the payment was “in no way an admission of wrongdoing.”
At least four legal lawsuits have been filed in recent months accusing Combs of sexual assault, including Ventura’s.
In response to the most recent civil lawsuit in December, which claimed he was involved in the gang rape of a minor he organized to fly from Detroit to New York 20 years prior, Combs released a statement in which he categorically denied all of the accusations, labeling them as the work of money-seeking individuals.
Combs, the originator of the historic record label Bad Boy Records, is a highly successful musician, one of the most significant hip-hop producers and executives, and the mogul of his own Sean John apparel brand.