Homeland Safety brokers performed searches of Holmby Hills and Miami mansions owned by Sean “Diddy” Combs on Monday as a part of a federal inquiry into intercourse trafficking allegations involving the hip-hop and liquor mogul, legislation enforcement sources mentioned.
The 17,000-square-foot mansion the place Combs debuted his final album a yr in the past was flooded with Homeland Safety Investigations brokers, who served a search warrant and gathered proof on behalf of an investigation being run by the prosecutors within the Southern District of New York, in response to legislation enforcement officers accustomed to the inquiry.
“Earlier immediately, Homeland Safety Investigations New York executed legislation enforcement actions as a part of an ongoing investigation, with help from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our native legislation enforcement companions. We are going to present additional data because it turns into obtainable,” an HSI spokesman mentioned in an announcement.
Two of Combs’ sons have been seen being detained on the Holmby Hills property as brokers searched the mansion in footage captured by FOX11 Los Angeles
Shawn Holley, an legal professional for Combs, didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
A hip-hop star turned entrepreneur, Combs has grow to be the main focus of sexual assault and intercourse trafficking allegations within the final yr. The raid is the newest and most severe menace to his gilded way of life.
4 separate plaintiffs have filed civil lawsuits in opposition to Combs accusing him of rape, intercourse trafficking a minor, assault and a litany of different alleged abuses, imperiling his empire and sending shock waves by the music business.
Combs, 54, amassed his fortune first as a hip-hop producer, artist and founding father of Unhealthy Boy Leisure, the label that launched the profession of the late Infamous B.I.G., amongst others. He’d later added profitable vogue and liquor firms to his ventures, most notably Sean John and Cîroc vodka.
His former girlfriend Casandra Ventura, the singer generally known as Cassie, accused him of rape and repeated bodily assaults, and mentioned he pressured her to have intercourse with male prostitutes in entrance of him. Joi Dickerson-Neal accused Combs in a go well with of drugging and raping her in 1991, recording the assault after which distributing the footage with out her consent.
Liza Gardner filed a 3rd go well with during which she claimed Combs and Man singer Aaron Corridor sexually assaulted her. Corridor couldn’t be reached for remark.
The most up-to-date go well with alleges Combs and former Unhealthy Boy label president Harve Pierre gang-raped and sex-trafficked a 17-year-old woman. Pierre mentioned in an announcement the allegations have been “disgusting,” “false” and a “determined try for monetary acquire.”
Following the submitting of the fourth go well with, Combs wrote on Instagram, “Sufficient is sufficient. For the final couple of weeks, I’ve sat silently and watched folks attempt to assassinate my character, destroy my popularity and my legacy. Sickening allegations have been made in opposition to me by people in search of a fast payday. Let me be completely clear: I didn’t do any of the terrible issues being alleged. I’ll battle for my title, my household and for the reality.”
On Monday, Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Cassie Ventura and one other, unnamed plaintiff, mentioned in response to reviews of a search warrant issued on Combs: “We are going to all the time assist legislation enforcement when it seeks to prosecute those who have violated the legislation. Hopefully, that is the start of a course of that may maintain Mr. Combs accountable for his wicked conduct.”
