| Advertisement |
March 25 (UPI) -- Sean "Diddy" Combs' homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by federal agents Monday as part of a sex trafficking investigation, led by the Southern District of New York, according to authorities. A Homeland Security Investigations spokesperson said the raids were conducted as part of an "ongoing investigation."
Advertisement
"Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners," the HSI spokesperson said in a statement. "We will provide further information as it becomes available."
During the raid in Los Angeles, Homeland Security expert Hal Kempfer told Fox 11 that they were looking for any laptops or flash drives that could connect Combs to the allegations.
Combs, who has not responded to news of the raids, has been hit with four lawsuits, accusing him of sexual abuse. The 54-year-old rapper has denied the allegations.
Last year, Combs' former girlfriend Cassie Ventura, an R&B singer who dated him from 2005 to 2018, alleged years of sexual abuse and "savage" beatings that she said were witnessed by the rapper's staff. Ventura and Combs reached a settlement within days.
Three more lawsuits were filed in November 2023 right before New York's Adult Survivors Act expired. The law provides victims of sexual abuse a one-year window to file civil action regardless of the statute of limitations.
The lawsuits include a complaint filed by a Canadian woman, who claims she was sex-trafficked and gang raped in 2003 when she was 17. The woman, identified as Jane Doe, said Combs invited her to his recording studio in New York City, where she says he gave her drugs and alcohol before he and his friends allegedly gang-raped her.
Combs denied the allegations, arguing he was being falsely targeted for his wealth. That lawsuit was dropped in December.
A third lawsuit contends Combs and a friend took turns raping two women in the early 1990s. A third woman, Joi Dickerson, said Combs "intentionally drugged" her before assaulting her in 1991, when she was 19-years-old. In the lawsuit, Dickerson claims Combs videotaped the assault and later shared it, causing her to suffer severe depression and drop out of college.
After hearing about Monday's Homeland Security raids, a lawyer for Ventura and one of Combs' other accusers issued a statement.
"We will always support law enforcement when it seeks to prosecute those that have violated the law," attorney Doug Wigdor said.
"Hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs responsible for his depraved conduct."
