The American rapper was arrested on Monday, September 16, at the Park Hyatt Hotel on 57th Street in Manhattan and taken into custody by Homeland Security Investigations at 8:15 p.m after a grand jury indicted him.
The indictment is sealed and the charges were not announced but Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer for Mr. Combs, said he believed he was being charged with racketeering and sex trafficking.
He issued a statement saying: “We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr Combs by the US Attorney’s Office.”
He added that Combs had gone to New York last week in anticipation of the charges being brought.
“He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal,” Agnifilo said.
The federal investigation into Combs was revealed when Homeland Security Investigations agents served simultaneous search warrants and raided Combs’ mansions in Los Angeles and Miami on 25 March.
His arrest comes amid a wave of lawsuits filed against him alleging sexual assault and an ongoing federal investigation.
Last November, his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, became the first of several people to sue him for sexual abuse.
In her November lawsuit, Cassie alleged years of abuse, including beatings and rape. Her suit also alleged Combs engaged in sex trafficking by “requiring her to engage in forced sexual acts in multiple jurisdictions” and by engaging in “harboring and transportation of Plaintiff for purposes of sex induced by force, fraud, or coercion”.
It also said he compelled her to help him traffic male sex workers Combs would force Cassie to have sex with while he filmed. The suit was settled the following day.
The suit was settled, but Combs later apologised for his behaviour after a video appearing to show him punching and kicking Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway on 5 March 2016 was obtained by CNN.
Cassie’s lawsuit was followed by at least a half-dozen others, including two women.
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