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Federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security on Monday raided homes in the Los Angeles and Miami area that a person with knowledge of the case said were connected to Sean Combs, the hip-hop mogul accused of sexual assault and sex trafficking in multiple civil lawsuits in recent months.
In a statement Monday, in response to questions about news reports of a raid on Mr. Combs’ residences, Homeland Security Investigations said: “Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation. with the help of HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners. We will provide more information as it becomes available.”
A spokesman for Mr. Combs did not respond to a request for comment.
The criminal investigation was being led by federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York and federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations, a law enforcement official said. Nicholas Biase, spokesman for the Southern District, declined to comment.
Homeland Security Investigations did not say in its statement who the target of the investigation was. Video from Fox 11 (KTTV), a local television news station in Los Angeles, showed armed officers entering a home in the Holmby Hills area of the city, which a law enforcement official said was related with Mr. Combs.
The raids were a surprising development in the career of Combs, 54, also known as Puff Daddy and Diddy, a producer, record label executive and occasional rapper who has been one of the most influential and widely recognized figures in the business. of music for the last 30 years. years.
He played an integral role in transforming hip-hop into a global commercial force, creating hits and larger-than-life personas for rap and R&B artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige, and scoring big hits with songs like “I’ll Be Missing You” (1997), a ballad by Notorious B.I.G. after his murder in a drive-by shooting, featuring Faith Evans, the rapper’s widow, and sampling the Police hit “Every Breath You Take.”
But Combs has also been dogged for decades by accusations of violence. In November, Casandra Ventura, his ex-girlfriend, who was also signed to his label, Bad Boy, as artist Cassie, sued him for sexual assault.
In her lawsuit, Ms. Ventura accused Mr. Combs of forcing her to engage in sexual activity with prostitutes over a period of years. The lawsuit said that as a result of those encounters, which took place in several cities across the United States, Ms. Ventura was a victim of sex trafficking.
Ms. Ventura’s civil suit was settled in just one day, and she and Mr. Combs said their dispute had been resolved “amicably.”
But his lawsuit was followed by several more cases, each of which accused Mr. Combs of sexual assault. In a case filed last month, a music producer, Rodney Jones, said Combs had had unwanted sexual contact with him and forced him to hire prostitutes and engage in sexual acts with them.
Federal investigators in New York have been leading the investigation and conducting interviews with potential witnesses related to Combs for several months, according to a person familiar with the interviews.
Combs has denied the allegations against him. In December, after an anonymous woman filed a lawsuit accusing Mr. Combs and two other men of raping her in a New York recording studio in 2003, when she was 17, the music mogul said: “Individuals have done disgusting accusations against me. Looking for a quick payday. “Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the horrible things that are alleged.”
After Mr. Jones’ lawsuit last month, Shawn Holley, Mr. Combs’ attorney, said Mr. Jones “is nothing more than a liar who brazenly filed a $30 million lawsuit seeking an undeserved payday.” “, and called his accusations “pure fiction.” .” Holley and two other Combs attorneys also did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
In a statement on Monday, Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer representing Ms. Ventura and the unnamed woman who sued Mr. Combs alleging the assault at a New York studio, said: “We will always support law enforcement when they attempt to prosecute who have violated the law. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs accountable for his depraved conduct.”
Hamed Al Aziz contributed reporting from Washington, DC and Chelsia Rose Marcio from New York.
