Federal brokers from the Division of Homeland Safety on Monday raided houses within the Los Angeles space and Miami that an individual with information of the case stated have been related to Sean Combs, the hip-hop mogul who has been accused of sexual assault and intercourse trafficking in a number of civil lawsuits over the past a number of months.
In an announcement on Monday, in response to questions on information experiences of a raid on Mr. Combs’s residences, Homeland Safety Investigations stated: “Earlier in the present day, Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI) 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’ll present additional data because it turns into accessible.”
A spokesperson for Mr. Combs didn’t reply to a request for remark.
The prison inquiry was being carried out by federal prosecutors within the Southern District of New York and federal brokers with Homeland Safety Investigations, a law-enforcement official stated. Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the Southern District, declined to remark.
The division didn’t say who was the goal of the investigation. Video from Fox 11 (KTTV), an area tv information station in Los Angeles, confirmed armed officers getting into a house within the Holmby Hills space of the town, which the station stated was related to Mr. Combs’s firm, Unhealthy Boy Leisure.
Combs, 54, referred to as Puff Daddy and Diddy, performed an integral function within the transformation of hip-hop into a world business pressure, but has been dogged for many years by accusations of violence. In November, he was sued for sexual assault by Casandra Ventura, his former girlfriend, who was additionally signed to his label, Unhealthy Boy, because the performing artist Cassie.
In her swimsuit, Ms. Ventura accused Mr. Combs of forcing her to have interaction in sexual exercise with male prostitutes over a interval of years. The swimsuit stated that on account of these encounters, which happened in plenty of cities throughout the USA, Ms. Ventura was a sufferer of intercourse trafficking.
Ms. Ventura’s civil swimsuit was settled in simply at some point, along with her and Mr. Combs saying their dispute had been resolved “amicably.”
However her swimsuit was adopted by a number of extra instances, every accusing Mr. Combs of sexual assault. In one case filed final month, a music producer, Rodney Jones, stated that Mr. Combs had made undesirable sexual contact with him, and compelled him to rent prostitutes and take part in intercourse acts with them.
Mr. Combs has denied the accusations towards him. In December, after an nameless lady filed a swimsuit accusing Mr. Combs and two different males of raping her in a New York recording studio in 2003, when she was 17, the music mogul stated: “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.”
After Mr. Jones’s swimsuit final month, Shawn Holley, a lawyer for Mr. Combs, stated Mr. Jones is “nothing greater than a liar who filed a $30 million lawsuit shamelessly on the lookout for an undeserved payday,” and known as his accusations “pure fiction.”
In an announcement on Monday, Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer who represents Ms. Ventura and the nameless lady who sued Mr. Combs alleging the assault at a New York studio, stated: “We’ll 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 liable for his wicked conduct.”
Hamed Aleaziz contributed reporting from Washington, D.C.
