Sean “Diddy” Combs, a hip-hop kingmaker and three-time Grammy winner, was arrested in New York City on Monday by federal authorities in New York City, according to his attorney.
Agents with Homeland Security Investigations carried out the arrest in Manhattan on Monday, sources familiar with the matter told NBC New York.
In a statement released late Monday night, Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo said they were “disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution,” calling the entertainment start “an imperfect person but is not criminal.”
It was not immediately clear what charges Combs would face, but Agnifilo said that it was coming from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, indicating federal charges would be filed.
“To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts,” the statement from Agnifilo read. “These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Individuals briefed on the matter told NBC News the federal charges were expected to mirror the conduct for which Combs has been under investigation for more than six months.
Combs, 54, has been under federal investigation since at least March of this year when Homeland Security Investigations executed search warrants at Combs’ properties. At the time of those searches, NBC News reported that three women and a man had been interviewed by federal officials in Manhattan in relation to allegations of sex trafficking, sexual abuse, and the solicitation and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms.
Those search warrants had been part of an investigation led by the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
HSI officials seized phones from Combs in Miami before he was scheduled to depart for a trip to the Bahamas, according to three law enforcement sources familiar with the warrants. Combs was in the Miami area when federal authorities executed the searches, sources said.
Cassie Ventura is breaking her silence. After Sean “Diddy” Combs apologized over the weekend on social media for his self-called “inexcusable” behavior during a 2016 hotel surveillance video, in which the rapper appeared to assault his ex-girlfriend, the “Me & U” singer released a statement on Instagram on May 23.
