Yahoo News Sean “Diddy” Combs Residences Raided by Federal Agents Amid Sex Trafficking Claims
Homes belonging to Sean “Diddy” Combs in Los Angeles, New York and Miami were raided by federal agents on Monday, a month after the music mogul was sued for sex trafficking, among other allegations.
A representative for Homeland Security Investigations New York said in a statement that the raids were executed “as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners.” They added that “we will provide further information as it becomes available.”
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Representatives for Combs did not respond to requests for comment.
The events come about one month after Combs was served a sexual assault lawsuit from producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, who accused the music mogul of harassing and trafficking him. The complaint was the fifth suit filed against the rapper since his former longtime partner Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, sued him in November for sexual assault.
In a statement Monday, Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Ventura, said that “we will always support law enforcement when it seeks to prosecute those that have violated the law. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs responsible for his depraved conduct.”
Ventura, who accused Combs of repeatedly raping and physically abusing her for nearly a decade, later reached a settlement with Combs. In a statement at the time, Combs’ lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, clarified that the decision to settle was in “no way an admission of wrongdoing.”
Subsequent suits against Combs include accusations from a woman who was a minor at the time of the alleged assault and a claim that Combs forced Jones to solicit sex workers for the Bad Boy Records founder. Multiple suits also alleged that Combs drugged his victims, and one included a claim that he choked a woman until she passed out, later urging her not to report the incident.
Combs has consistently denied all allegations, saying in a statement last December that “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.”
In a statement this February, Combs’s lawyer Shawn Holley said Jones’ claims of assault and trafficking were “pure fiction.”
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