Feds appear to target those involved in Sean 'Diddy' Combs 'freak offs' as probe enters new phase
Richard Winton
Fri, September 27, 2024 at 5:00 AM CDT·7 min read
This frame grab taken from hotel security camera video and aired by CNN appears to show Sean "Diddy" Combs attacking singer Cassandra "Cassie" Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in March 2016. (Uncredited / Associated Press)
For decades, Sean "Diddy" Combs promoted himself as one of the godfathers of hip-hop, a celebrity who transformed the genre
and became a business estimated to top a billion dollars.
But this status is now taking on different meaning now that federal prosecutors
have charged him in a sweeping sex abuse racketeering case that threatens to scrutiny others in his orbit.
Authorities are pursuing him with the same racketeering laws that took down the likes of John Gotti and James "Whitey" Bulger.
He sits in a cell at a Brooklyn jail where many a mobster knows well.
Combs has been the subject of a sweeping federal probe since at least the beginning of the year and was arrested in New York on Monday. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday after prosecutors unsealed their indictment against Combs, charging him with sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering. They alleged Combs abused women during so-called "freak off" parties. Combs has denied any wrongdoing.
Read more: 'A culture of silence and deference': A sex trafficking expert analyzes the allegations against Sean 'Diddy' Combs
"They are very much treating this matter like a mobster case ... and articulating various roles that different people played in supporting the conspiracy," said Louis Shapiro, who defends clients in federal criminal proceedings.
Prosecutors have been silent about exactly where the case is going next. But they called out employees and associates for helping Combs and often covering up for him.
“If I were a celebrity who participated in one of Combs’ freak offs, I would be shaking in my boots. At best, they’re a witness in a case that is very likely going to trial. At worst, they’re a co-defendant," former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said.
50 witnesses, 300 warrants
Shapiro said the government has interviewed more than 50 witnesses and served 300 warrants and it is clear that it is far more than the word of the dozen or so women who have accused Combs of sexual abuse in litigation filed since last fall, when his former girlfriend Cassandra "Cassie" Ventura filed a lawsuit and Combs settled with significant payout within 24 hours.
Several witnesses who worked with Combs have been in meetings with federal prosecutors, and at least one sex worker is slated to testify in a potential grand jury proceeding, according to sources familiar with the investigation. As to whether others will be charged or more charges forthcoming, prosecutors are saying it remains active.
“I can’t take anything off the table. Anything is possible,” said Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, announcing the indictment. “Our investigation is very active and ongoing."
Read more: A wall of secrets may crumble as feds call out enablers of Sean 'Diddy' Combs' alleged sex crimes
Asst. U.S. Atty. Emily Johnson, in court last week, reminded both judges of the threat Combs poses to witnesses.
'Freak offs' and cover ups
Combs is accused of using his entertainment empire to lure female victims and employing violence, coercion and drugs to get women to take part in freak offs, elaborate sex performances that often were recorded and sometimes lasted days since 2009. Prosecutors allege the music icon's business network was ultimately about furthering his criminal conduct.
Because of the threats of violence, concerns that their financial support would be withdrawn and that sensitive recordings would be circulated, “victims did not believe they could refuse Combs without risking their security or facing more abuse,” Williams said.
The “Combs Enterprise,” as the government calls it, consisted of Combs, the leader; business entities; his record label Bad Boy Entertainment; and its employees and associates.
In civil litigation against Combs in the last year, at least one top executive was labeled his "Ghislaine Maxwell," Jeffrey Epstein's sidekick who is serving 20 years for supplying the women the deceased mogul sexually abused.
Prosecutors have not named any other targets in the investigation and have provided few details about where it could go next.
But legal experts expect more names to come out — either as defendants or as witnesses at Combs' trial.