Nature of investigation not revealed, however raids observe allegations of intercourse offences, together with trafficking, made by ex-girlfriend.
United States federal brokers have raided two properties belonging to hip-hop star Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Division of Homeland Safety officers confirmed on Monday that that they had performed searches of the music mogul’s properties in Los Angeles and Miami.
The investigation is being led by Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI) brokers in New York, the place a lawsuit was filed in opposition to Combs by a former girlfriend final 12 months, accusing him of intercourse trafficking.
In a press release issued to the Reuters information company, HSI didn’t elaborate on the character of its investigation. Nonetheless, it has jurisdiction to research the unlawful motion of individuals, items, cash, expertise and contraband, together with intercourse trafficking.
R&B vocalist Cassandra Ventura sued Combs in federal courtroom in Manhattan in November, accusing him of subjecting her to bodily abuse, sexual slavery and rape throughout a 10-year skilled and romantic relationship.
The go well with cited violations of intercourse trafficking and human trafficking statutes underneath federal, New York state and California legal guidelines.
Ventura and Combs – who has used such monikers as P Diddy, Puff Daddy and Diddy – introduced the following day that they had settled the case underneath confidential phrases.
Combs, 54, has mentioned that he’s harmless and his accusers have been in search of “a fast payday”.
Ventura’s courtroom motion opened the door to different lawsuits, elevating allegations of sexual assault and rape in opposition to Combs from different plaintiffs.
In December, Combs denied the most recent civil grievance, which accused him of participating within the gang rape of a young person whom he organized to fly from Detroit to New York 20 years in the past,
Tv stations in Los Angeles carried aerial video footage exhibiting HSI brokers and different legislation enforcement authorities raiding Combs’s property within the metropolis’s upscale Holmby Hills neighbourhood.
Los Angeles Metropolis Information Service reported a number of individuals have been detained exterior the house, but it surely was unclear whether or not any arrests have been made.
Native information retailers reported that federal authorities additionally executed a search warrant on the rap mogul’s Miami-area residence.
Footage confirmed officers going out and in of his property on Miami Seaside’s Star Island with brokers carrying a field of fabric from the house.
Combs’s whereabouts in the course of the raids weren’t identified.