Infamous 1999 shooting could be re-investigated as part of federal probe into Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ past is back in the spotlight as a sweeping federal sex trafficking probe into the rapper is set to widen after agents raided his mansions in connection to the investigation.

The infamous Club New York shooting from 1999 and the sensational 2001 trial could possibly be re-investigated as part of the probe, two law enforcement officials told The New York Post.

The probe comes as Combs faces accusations of sexual abuse from multiple alleged victims in a series of lawsuits in recent months – including an explosive lawsuit from February that alleges Combs sexually assaulted music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones and forced him to have sex with sex workers.

Mr Jones also alleged in his lawsuit that Combs was violent, threatened to “to eat” his face, brandished guns, and was often “bragging about bribing witnesses, and jurors in the criminal case concerning the 1999 NYC nightclub shooting with Shyne.”

Combs, then known as Puffy, his girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, his bodyguard, Anthony “Wolf” Jones, and rapper Jamal “Shyne” Barrow, were arrested after the club shooting that injured three people.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, 54, has strongly denied all the accusations against him

(AP)

The trial ended with Combs and Mr Jones walking free and Barrow, then 21, being convicted for assault and gun possession and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Mr Jones also alleged in the suit that Combs openly bragged about committing the shooting and bribing witnesses and jurors to secure his acquittal.

“Mr Combs shared that he was responsible for the shooting in the nightclub in New York,” he alleged.

He said Combs bragged about using Jennifer Lopez to smuggle the gun into the club, according to the suit.

“He shared that artist, and Mr. Combs’ girlfriend at the time, Jennifer Lopez, aka, J.Lo carried the gun into the club for him and passed him the gun after he got into an altercation with another individual,” Mr Jones alleged in the suit.

But now Combs, a rapper and music mogul credited with helping to launch the careers of some of the industry’s biggest stars, is now facing multiple civil lawsuits accusing him of sex trafficking, sexual abuse and rape.

“They got eyes on him in Miami and the feds are talking to witness after witness,” New York criminal defense attorney Michael Discioarro who is familiar with the case told The Post.

“They’re corroborating everything they can. But everything past and present is on the table with Mr. Diddy right now.”

Feds raid properties in Los Angeles and Miami belonging to Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs on 25 March

(AP)

Combs, 54, has strongly denied all of the allegations against him. His attorneys have branded the lawsuits and their accusations as money grabs, “baseless” or “sickening.”

The new lawsuits come months after Combs’s former partner, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed a lawsuit against him in November. She accused him of raping her in 2018, beating her, demanding she carry a firearm to “make her uncomfortable and demonstrate how dangerous he is” and forcing her into “unwanted sexual encounters with male sex workers.”

Ms Ventura’s lawsuit against Combs was settled a day after she filed it for an undisclosed amount of money.

The slew of allegations in lawsuits against Combs date as far back as the 1990s, when he founded his own record label, Bad Boy Records.

Source link