Feds raid Sean Combs properties in LA, Miami on New York warrants

Federal agents searched homes belonging to hip-hop mogul Sean Combs in Los Angeles and Miami as part of a New York-based criminal investigation, NBC News reported, citing sources.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents who searched Combs’ properties were authorized to search them by warrants issued in Manhattan federal court, months after a series of lawsuits accusing Combs of serious sexual misconduct, officials said. police sources.

Phones were seized from Combs, 54, in Miami before his planned departure for a trip to the Bahamas, according to NBC.

A source familiar with the matter told NBC that three women and a man were questioned in New York by federal authorities as part of an investigation involving possible sex trafficking, sexual assault, solicitation and distribution of illegal narcotics. and guns linked to Combs, who is also known as “Diddy,” “Puff Daddy” and “P. Diddy.”

Interviews with three other women, identified as “Jane Does,” are planned.

“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 partners local law enforcement agencies,” Homeland Security said in a statement to NBC 4. Los Angeles.

Benjamin Brafman, a New York lawyer who represented Combs, did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Combs has denied the civil allegations against him.

The searches come a month after a music producer named Rodney “Li Rod” Jones filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, claiming Combs sexually harassed, drugged and threatened him while he lived and traveled with Combs.

Tyrone Blackburn, an attorney for Jones, and two women who sued Combs, said in a statement to NBC News: “We can appreciate today’s raids by the federal government; however, today’s events will not prevent or delay my clients’ ongoing lawsuits. and upcoming actions for justice and resolution from Combs RICO Enterprise.

Douglas Wigdor, a New York lawyer for singer Casandra Ventura who quickly settled an explosive lawsuit against Combs last fall accusing him of raping and sex trafficking her, said he also represented a “Jane Doe” in the federal investigation into Combs.

“We will always support law enforcement as they seek to prosecute those who have violated the law,” Wigdor said in a statement.

“I hope this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs accountable for his depraved conduct,” the attorney said.

Combs was sued in Manhattan federal court by Ventura, known as Cassie.

Cassie’s lawsuit said that in 2005, when she was 19, Combs lured her into a professional relationship by signing her to his label, Bad Boy Records, and a few years later, he enticed her to have a sexual relationship and introduced her “to a lifestyle of excessive alcohol and substance abuse and forced her to obtain illicit prescriptions to satisfy her own addictions.”

The suit claimed that Combs raped Cassie at her home after she tried to leave him, “blow up” another man’s car after learning of his romantic interest in her, and frequently beat and punched her. foot.

Cassie and Combs agreed to settle her suit for undisclosed terms just one day after the suit was filed.

But after that settlement, two other women, Liza Gardner and Joie Dickerson-Neal, in their own lawsuits accused Combs of sexually assaulting them.

A fourth woman, identified in court filings as Jane Doe, sued Combs in December, accusing him of gang raping her two decades ago, when she was 17, with the former president of his label and another person.

Blackburn, the attorney, represents Gardner and Jane Doe.

An attorney for Dickerson-Neal declined to comment to NBC News about the searches at Combs’ home.

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