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Federal agents raided homes in Los Angeles and the Miami area on Monday that are connected to the hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, a person with knowledge of the case said.<\/p>\n
Homeland Security Investigations carried out the raids but did not provide details about the case, including whether Mr. Combs was a target or which criminal charges were being investigated. Mr. Combs, who is also known as Puff Daddy or Diddy, has been accused of sexual assault and sex trafficking in multiple civil lawsuits<\/a> over the last several months.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Mr. Combs did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n The criminal inquiry was being conducted by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York and federal agents with Homeland Security, a law-enforcement official said. Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the Southern District, declined to comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In a statement, Homeland Security said that agents from New York had \u201cexecuted law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Video from Fox 11 (KTTV), a local television station in Los Angeles, showed armed officers entering a home in the Holmby Hills area of the city, which a law-enforcement official said was connected to Mr. Combs. Public records in California also indicate that the home is owned by a company led by Mr. Combs.<\/p>\n The raids were a stunning development in the career of Mr. Combs<\/a>, 54, a producer, label executive and occasional rapper who has been one of the most influential and widely recognized figures in the music business over the last 30 years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n He played an integral role in the transformation of hip-hop into a global commercial force, crafting hits and larger-than-life personas for rap and R&B performers like the Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige. He also made smash hits himself with songs like \u201cI\u2019ll Be Missing You\u201d (1997), a ballad to the Notorious B.I.G. after his killing in a drive-by shooting, which featured Faith Evans, the rapper\u2019s widow, and sampled the Police\u2019s hit \u201cEvery Breath You Take.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But Mr. Combs has also been dogged for decades by accusations of violence. In November, he was sued for sexual assault by Casandra Ventura<\/a>, his former girlfriend, who was also signed to his label, Bad Boy, as the performing artist Cassie<\/a>.<\/p>\n In her suit, Ms. Ventura accused Mr. Combs of forcing her to engage in sexual activity with male prostitutes over a period of years. The suit said that as a result of those encounters, which took place in a number of cities across the United States, Ms. Ventura was a victim of sex trafficking.<\/p>\n Ms. Ventura\u2019s civil suit was settled<\/a> in just one day, with her and Mr. Combs saying their dispute had been resolved \u201camicably.\u201d<\/p>\n That case, filed in a detailed 35-page complaint, drew headlines around the world and imperiled the business brand he had steadily built up over decades. In the months before Ms. Ventura\u2019s suit, Mr. Combs was given industry awards and released his first studio album in 17 years.<\/p>\n Even after its settlement, Ms. Ventura\u2019s suit was followed by several more cases, each accusing Mr. Combs of sexual assault. In one case filed last month<\/a>, a music producer, Rodney Jones, said that Mr. Combs had made unwanted sexual contact with him, and forced him to hire prostitutes and participate in sex acts with them. In recent months, many of Mr. Combs\u2019s business partners have distanced themselves from him.<\/p>\n Federal investigators in New York have been leading the investigation, and have been conducting interviews asking potential witnesses about sexual misconduct allegations against Mr. Combs for several months, according to a person familiar with the interviews.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n