Live: Authorities announce Diddy indictment

(NewsNation) — An indictment against music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was unsealed Tuesday, revealing details about what led to his arrest.

The indictment alleges he abused, threatened and coerced women to fulfill his sexual desires. He is facing federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution.

In a press conference, authorities said they are seeking detention for Combs ahead of the trial. They also said they are not taking anything off the table when it comes to additional arrests as part of the RICO charge.

Diddy allegedly ran criminal enterprise

Prosecutors allege Combs used the resources of his music empire to create “a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”

Prosecutors characterize Combs as having a pattern of abusing women and detailed allegations of assault, abuse and prostitution. They also accuse him as having used his employees to help him engage in these activities. The indictment also accuses him of being violent toward employees and witnesses and using bribery to ensure silence.

The indictment also says Combs will have to forfeit any and all assets acquired or maintained as a result of his alleged criminal acts. The indictment also demands he forfeit any property and personal used to commit the crimes he is alleged to have participated in.

Diddy accused of deception, ‘freak-offs’

The indictment alleges Combs would often lure women in with promises of a romantic relationship before using intimidation and threats to get them to engage in prostitution.

Those acts allegedly include what are termed “freak-offs,” produced performances where victims would be drugged and directed to engage in sex acts with male sex workers for an extended period of time, during which they were filmed. Combs allegedly kept some of the videos, sometimes without the victims’ knowledge. According to the indictment, Combs and the victims often required IV fluids afterward due to physical exertion.

Prosecutors say victims believed they couldn’t refuse to do as Combs asked without financial or job security risks or experiencing emotional or physical abuse. Combs and others are also said to have carried firearms used to intimidate others.

Diddy’s arrest

Combs was arrested Monday in Manhattan after a grand jury indicted him on charges that — until Tuesday — were unknown to the public, his attorney Marc Agnifilo confirmed.

“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Agnifilo said in a statement Monday.

The U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Damian Williams, confirmed in a statement that Combs was in custody.

He was expected to appear in federal court at 10 a.m. ET Tuesday.

Diddy’s properties raided

The charges come nearly six months after federal Homeland Security agents and other law enforcement searched Combs’ properties in California and Florida. The sweep was part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by New York federal authorities, NewsNation local affiliate WPIX confirmed at the time.

Rumors have circulated about Combs for decades, and allegations of sexual misconduct began surfacing in civil lawsuits late last year. His former girlfriend, R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, sued Combs in November 2023, alleging in New York federal court that he brought her into his “ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle” when she was 19 and he was 37. The singer detailed a yearslong relationship that she said included beatings and sexual assault, alleging that a pattern of abuse began as soon as the relationship started.

Combs’ attorney Ben Brafman said he “vehemently denies” the allegations.

Ventura and Combs settled the suit quickly — but allegations continued to surface.

A 2016 surveillance video circulated in May showed Combs attacking the singer in a California hotel.

Reached by email Tuesday, Ventura’s attorney said neither he nor his client wished to comment on the indictment.

Diddy faces multiple lawsuits

In late November and early December 2023, Combs was accused of sexually assaulting and attacking multiple women in the decade spanning the early 1990s and 2003.

By July 4 of this year, Combs was named in a 10th civil suit alleging sexual misconduct. Later that month, the man charged in rapper Tupac Shakur’s 1996 killing said Combs allegedly offered $1 million for the hip-hop legend’s murder. Despite longstanding speculation about Combs’ potential involvement in Shakur’s death, he hasn’t been named in any investigation connected to the killing.

Most recently, a judge in a separate case ordered Combs to pay a $100 million default judgment after he failed to dispute a Michigan inmate’s sexual assault allegations. Combs filed a request to vacate that order last week.

Read the indictment below:

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