For decades, hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs boasted about building a multimillion-dollar business empire. But according to a recently filed indictment, federal prosecutors allege he ran it as a “criminal organization” that engaged in and covered up sex trafficking, forced labor and bribery – including at his Star Island mansion.
In the indictment, which was unsealed on Tuesday, Diddy, 54, is accused of engaging in an “organized crime conspiracy” because he “engaged in a persistent and widespread pattern of abuse of women and other persons.”
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“As part of this pattern of abuse, Diddy manipulated women to induce them to participate in tightly orchestrated sexual acts with male sex workers,” the indictment states. “At times, Combs and others acting at his direction arranged for women and sex workers to fly to Combs’ location.”
Allegations in Diddy’s villa on Star Island
Much of this activity took place at Diddy’s upscale homes in New York, Los Angeles and on Star Island in Miami Beach, according to court records and reports from federal investigators.
Six months ago, federal agents raided the Star Island home after he was charged with being the leader of a criminal organization that was classified as a “widespread and dangerous sex trafficking criminal organization.”
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The controversial music mogul is charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation for the purpose of prostitution, according to a grand jury indictment.
“Please reserve judgment until you know all the facts,” defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said in a statement. “These are the actions of an innocent man who has nothing to hide and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
“Outbursts”, manipulation and threats
The 14-page indictment, filed by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York State in Manhattan, details how the music manager “abused, threatened and coerced women and others in his circle to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his behavior.”
Diddy, according to the indictment, manipulated women into having sex with male sex workers by controlling their careers, taking advantage of his financial support and threatening them with violence.
The charges specifically relate to a disturbing surveillance video that shows Diddy kicking his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in March 2016.
The rap mogul used his business activities to enrich those loyal to him and to cover up his crimes, the indictment says. His associates used Diddy’s power and reputation as a weapon to “intimidate, threaten and lure female victims into Diddy’s orbit, often under the guise of a romantic relationship.”
The recruited women were forced to participate in “freak-offs,” sexual performances that Diddy staged and often recorded, the indictment says. Diddy’s employees organized his access to women and sex workers, often across state lines, and provided controlled substances to keep the women “obedient and submissive.”
According to the indictment, Diddy and his associates even tracked down victims and showed them recordings of their “outbursts” in order to force them to remain silent.
READ MORE: Federal raid on Diddy’s Miami Beach mansion continues into night as part of sex trafficking investigation
During the raid on Diddy’s homes on Star Island and in Los Angeles, agents seized “Freak-Off” supplies, including narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant. They also discovered three AR-15s with scratched-off serial numbers and a drum magazine.
In 2023, as allegations against Diddy gained momentum due to mounting lawsuits, the music manager and his associates attempted to bribe people into silence, the indictment says. He even told them false stories in phone calls.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, these calls were recorded at least twice.
A case based on lawsuits?
Diddy’s legal troubles reached a peak in April when music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones sued Diddy, accusing him, his employees and other music executives of knowing about illicit and unwanted sexual advances that allegedly took place in Miami, New York, California and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The producer, whom Diddy hired in August 2022 to help create several songs on his R&B album “The Love Album: Off the Grid,” claims in the lawsuit that Diddy groped him and forced him to perform sexual acts with sex workers.
Jones also claims he was tasked with recruiting sex workers from Booby Trap on the River, a Miami strip club, and bringing them to Diddy’s house on Star Island.
Diddy’s ex-girlfriend Ventura was the catalyst for a barrage of lawsuits that have dogged Diddy in recent months. In her suit, Ventura claimed that Diddy raped her and forced her to have sex with male sex workers during their ten-year relationship.
Diddy settled the lawsuit the day after it was filed.
