Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested Monday in New York amid a federal sex-trafficking probe, officers stated.
No particulars had been instantly out there in regards to the fees towards the hip-hop mogul and entrepreneur. A grand jury had been impaneled to research allegations.
Late Monday, the U.S. lawyer for the Southern District of New York issued a short assertion saying Combs was arrested “based mostly on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY. We anticipate to maneuver to unseal the indictment within the morning and can have extra to say at the moment.”
Sources stated Combs was arrested with out incident at round 8:30 p.m. at a New York resort, the place he had been staying.
Regulation enforcement sources informed The Occasions earlier this yr that Combs was the topic of a sweeping inquiry into sex-trafficking allegations that resulted in a federal raid in March at his estates in Los Angeles and Miami.
In civil lawsuits, 4 ladies have accused Combs of rape, assault and different abuses, relationship again three a long time. One of many allegations concerned a minor. The claims despatched shock waves via the music trade and put Combs’ leisure empire in jeopardy.
Combs has strongly denied any wrongdoing, and on Monday his lawyer criticized prosecutors.
“We’re dissatisfied with the choice to pursue what we imagine is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace,” Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo stated in a press release. “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving household man, and confirmed philanthropist who has spent the final 30 years constructing an empire, adoring his kids, and dealing to uplift the Black neighborhood.”
The lawyer stated Combs was “an imperfect individual however he isn’t a prison. To his credit score Mr. Combs has been nothing however cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York final week in anticipation of those fees. Please reserve your judgment till you will have all of the information. These are the acts of an harmless man with nothing to cover, and he seems ahead to clearing his identify in court docket.”
Homeland Safety Investigations brokers performed searches on March 25 at mansions owned by the Dangerous Boy Leisure co-founder as a part of the federal inquiry into sex-trafficking allegations, regulation enforcement sources stated.
The 17,000-square-foot mansion in Holmby Hills the place Combs debuted his LP “The Love Album: Off the Grid” was flooded with brokers, who served a search warrant and gathered proof on behalf of an investigation being run by prosecutors within the Southern District of New York, in keeping with regulation enforcement officers conversant in the inquiry.
Combs’ authorized troubles have been constructing for months.
Final week, Daybreak Richard, the previous Danity Kane and Diddy-Soiled Cash member and solo artist, sued Combs in New York, alleging sexual assault, harassment and inhumane remedy.
She alleged within the grievance that Combs groped her with out her consent, falsely imprisoned her and disadvantaged her and her bandmates of primary wants, and that “submission to his wicked calls for was crucial for profession development.”
Richard’s lawyer, Lisa Bloom, stated in a press release to The Occasions that “given Sean Combs’ brutal beating of his girlfriend caught on video and the eight individuals who have now accused him of abuse in court docket filings, together with my courageous consumer Daybreak Richard, this arrest appears lengthy overdue. It’s an enormous, transferring day for victims, however an arrest is just the start. Might justice be delivered to Mr. Combs. We implore different accusers to return ahead in solidarity and be part of us on this struggle.”
His former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, the singer often known as Cassie, accused him of rape and repeated bodily assaults and stated he pressured her to have intercourse with male prostitutes in entrance of him. Joi Dickerson-Neal accused Combs in a swimsuit of drugging and raping her in 1991, recording the assault after which distributing the footage with out her consent.
Liza Gardner filed a 3rd swimsuit wherein she alleged Combs and R&B singer Aaron Corridor sexually assaulted her. Corridor couldn’t be reached for remark.
One other lawsuit alleges that Combs and former Dangerous Boy label President Harve Pierre gang-raped and sex-trafficked a 17-year-old woman. Pierre stated in a press release that the allegations had been “disgusting,” “false” and a “determined try for monetary acquire.”
After the submitting of the fourth swimsuit, Combs wrote on Instagram: “Sufficient is sufficient…. Sickening allegations have been made towards me by people on the lookout for a fast payday. Let me be completely clear: I didn’t do any of the terrible issues being alleged. I’ll struggle for my identify, my household and for the reality.”
Within the spring, producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed a federal lawsuit towards Combs accusing him of sexually harassing and threatening him for greater than a yr.
Occasions workers author Alexandra Del Rosario contributed to this report.