Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - P. Diddy May Have Dirt on Rich and Famous Friends: Former Prosecutor

Episode Date: September 23, 2024

Sean “Diddy” Combs has rubbed elbows with the rich and famous for decades. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said Combs videotaped days-long sex parties with women and male sex workers and used those videos for blackmail. Law&Crime’s Angenette Levy talks with former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani about whether Combs might have damaging info on the rich and famous in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/CrimeFixHost:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest:Neama Rahmani  https://x.com/NeamaRahmaniCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sean Combs led and participated in a racketeering conspiracy that used the business empire he controlled to carry out criminal activity. Sean Diddy Combs, behind bars in a federal lockup, and if he's convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison for racketeering and sex trafficking. He believes he's innocent. I believe he's innocent. But there are questions about whether Combs has anything to offer the government and whether he

could name names to save himself. A former federal prosecutor is here to talk about Diddy's dirt. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. There's no doubt Sean Combs, Diddy, Puffy, whatever you want to call him, is in big, big trouble with the feds. He's in the fight of his life. The charges he faces and the allegations are disturbing. The racketeering conspiracy charge he faces carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. And let me tell you, I was on Twitter over the weekend. All of the posts were Diddy videos. That's all that was in my feed. It was crazy. The feds say that Combs, who's been a rap artist turned mogul for decades, used his

businesses to run an organized crime racket and that those crimes included forced labor, sex trafficking, arson, and kidnapping. Combs had parties, lots of parties, over many, many years. And he rubbed elbows with the rich and famous at award shows, in the recording studio, and of course, at his legendary parties. And I want to be clear, just because someone crossed paths with Combs or attended one of his white parties or maybe even took a photo with him, that doesn't mean that person committed a crime. And I'm certainly not saying that.

The indictment centers on sex trafficking involving one victim at this point, Cassie Ventura, Combs' longtime girlfriend. By now, you know that Ventura filed a bombshell civil suit against Combs last November, claiming she endured years of physical and sexual abuse at his hands. Combs settled that suit the very next day. Other suits from other people followed, and Combs has denied the misconduct alleged in all of them. But the indictment is different. It's alleging serious crimes to which Combs has pleaded not guilty.

The indictment claims Ventura was forced to participate in freak-offs, days-long sex parties, and I hesitate to call them parties because that makes it sound fun, where she was forced to have sex with male prostitutes and fed drugs to keep her compliant. The freak-offs went on so long sometimes that participants were often given IV fluids, according to the U.S. attorney, to recover. Can you imagine? The U.S. attorney talked about these Can you imagine? The U.S. attorney talked about these freak-offs when announcing the indictment. As alleged, Combs used force, threats of force, and coercion to cause victims to engage in extended sexual performances with male

commercial sex workers, some of whom he transported or caused to be transported over state lines. Combs allegedly planned and controlled the sex performances, which he called freak-offs, and he often electronically recorded them. The freak-offs sometimes lasted days at a time, involved multiple commercial sex workers, and often involved a variety of narcotics, such as ketamine, ecstasy, and GHB, which Combs

distributed to the victims to keep them obedient and compliant. As alleged, when Combs didn't get his way, he was violent, and he subjected victims of physical, emotional, and verbal abuse so that they would participate in the freak-offs, and that Combs hit, kicked, threw objects at at and dragged victims, at times by their hair. The stories we cover here on Crime Fix show you just how scary and unpredictable the world can be. And one of the scariest things that can happen is getting hurt. It's important that you know that if you're ever seriously hurt in an accident, your case could be worth millions.

That's where our sponsor and proud partner of Crime Fix, Morgan & Morgan, comes in. The firm has an army of attorneys who will fight for you and for what you deserve. In the past few months, Morgan & Morgan has won some big verdicts like $12 million in Florida, $26 million in Philly, and $6.8 million in New York. All were much higher than the highest insurance company offer. Even if your case isn't worth seven figures, start a claim and get the money that you deserve. Seeing if you have a case can be done in eight clicks or less, and you can do it all from just your phone. Give it a try. Start a claim at ForThePeople.com slash CrimeFix. Now Ventura, according to the U.S. attorney, was trying to flee one of those

freak-offs when Combs beat her in a hotel in March of 2016 in Los Angeles. Combs is accused of videotaping the freak-offs and then using those tapes to blackmail the people who took part. It makes you wonder, who is on those tapes? Besides maybe Cassie Ventura and male sex workers, are there rich and famous people who were a part of these freak-offs? Or were they Diddy's dirty little secret? The feds don't seem to think they were that secret. We are not done. This investigation is ongoing, and I encourage anyone with information about this case to come forward and to do it quickly. Anyone with information can call 1-877-4-HSI-TIP. I want to express my deep appreciation for the victims and witnesses who have used their voices and helped bring this

criminal conduct to light. We would not be here without them. Now let's say for a moment, hypothetically speaking, that there are rich, famous, and powerful people on the Freak Off videos. What could that mean? Would those people be charged? And are there people more powerful than Combs on those videos? Is he the top of this alleged conspiracy or could there be someone else at the top? Sources have likened Combs to Jeffrey Epstein. And we know Epstein had a lot of powerful friends,

but no one else was charged in his case, except for Ghislaine Maxwell. Were the rich and famous part of these parties that the feds say were illegal? And how many people were involved in these freak-offs? The U.S. attorney says Combs' staff arranged all of them. And Combs has been charged with RICO conspiracy. He used his business and employees of that business and other close associates to get his way. Those individuals allegedly included high ranking supervisors in the business, personal assistants, security staff and household staff. The indictment alleges that those individuals facilitated the freak-offs.

They booked the hotel rooms and stocked them with the supplies, including drugs, baby oil, personal lubricant, extra linens, and lighting. When the hotel rooms got damaged, they helped clean it up. They arranged for victims and commercial sex workers to travel for the freak offs and they delivered large quantities of cash to Combs to pay for the commercial sex workers. The indictment also alleges that they helped Combs cover up his crimes. During the March 2016 incident at the LA hotel that I mentioned earlier. So according to the US attorney, Combs' employees would know exactly who

attended these parties, these freak-offs, how they were arranged, and who's on the videos. But with the U.S. attorney saying that the investigation is ongoing, are people that might be featured on the videos seized from Combs' home, will they be considered witnesses or possible defendants? And what else has Cassie told the feds that can be backed up by video evidence? We don't know, but it's a valid question. Combs is in custody being held without bail, and his attorney says Combs maintains he's committed no crimes. The fight continues. We're not giving up by a long shot. I told Mr. Combs I'm going to try and get his case to trial as quickly as possible. I'm going to try and minimize the amount of time he spends in very, very difficult

and I believe inhumane housing conditions in the special housing unit of the Metropolitan Detention Facility. And I'm going to do everything that I can to move his case as quickly as possible. Now, Combs' attorney, Mark Agnifilo, acknowledged that there will be a lot of electronic evidence that he will have to go through. I understand that the government has a great amount of electronic devices that they have to download and provide to me. But everything's on the government's timetable. Nothing's on the defendant's timetable. And they're going to have to accommodate me and him and give us a quick trial. And I'm going to be pushing for that. His resolve is the same. He believes he's innocent. I believe he's innocent.

And we're going to fight this case with all of our might until we don't have to fight any longer. I want to bring in Nima Rahmani. He's a former federal prosecutor. So, Nima, Mark Agnifilo has said that he's going to take this to trial quickly. They are going to fight this. Do you think there's any chance of a plea deal in this case? Antoinette, I think a plea deal is very unlikely, and this is why. There's not really any deal to be made. There are minimum mandatories on the drug trafficking charges, 10 years, and the sex trafficking up to 15 years.

That's a minimum. And of course, we know the RICO conspiracy carries a potential life sentence. So there's not any deal that Diddy would accept. And he's previously fought criminal charges before in New York State Court, obviously a very different case involving the nightclub shooting with J-Lo, and he's beaten those charges. So here's someone with essentially unlimited means reportedly worth a billion dollars. So he's going to fight this all the way. Diddy is friends with a lot of famous people, or at least has been over the years. And, you know, the feds say part of the reason that he made these tapes was to blackmail people, obviously blackmailing the participants, people like Cassie to keep them in line, according to the indictment. But what about rich and powerful people? Do you think the feds have

reams and reams of video and that there are rich and powerful people, people we may know on those videos in the freak offs. I do. And I'm here in Hollywood and Diddy's parties were notorious and one of the worst kept secrets in Hollywood. If I were one of those rich and famous celebrities and I participated in these sex acts, I would be very concerned. I would be talking to a lawyer. At best, I'm a witness. At worst, I'm a co-defendant. And I thought that the feds were actually thinking about potentially charging others, and that's why it took six months to arrest and indict Diddy. But it turns out that wasn't the case.

But if you believe U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, and I do in the reports, there are at least 50 witnesses that the feds have spoken to. And I bet that some of those were participants in the sex acts. Do you see the feds going through those videos and identifying the people in them and seeking them out in particular if they are wealthy and famous people and saying, OK, do you want to be a witness or do you want to be a co-defendant? I think they are and I think they should. Obviously, very different case. But, you know, one of the criticisms of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation is that the rich and famous people that participated in the sex acts were never brought to justice. And even Epstein himself got a sweetheart deal, probably because he was very rich and well-connected. So, you know, if there are

other celebrities, they shouldn't get a free pass merely because of their wealth or their fame. And, you know, I think that the U.S. Attorney's Office going after Diddy, obviously he's going to be their main target. But if there's other people that were participants, they too should be prosecuted. Do you think that Diddy, you know, obviously the participants that, you know, they're claiming the federal prosecutors are that he was trying to keep the women engaged in this, particularly Cassie, because she's the only victim identified at this point in the indictment, trying to keep her in line and using these tapes to blackmail her and saying, look, I'll expose these if you ever try to leave me, that type of thing. That's what is being alleged.

But is he, do you think that there was a bigger purpose here, possibly blackmailing other people in the music industry, other people in Hollywood? Was there something for him to gain from videotaping these things in Hollywood and in the music industry? There's no question that the video evidence of others participating in sex acts can be used for blackmail or extortion. And obviously, the commercial sex workers, they're victims. But the people that were participating in them, to the extent that they're caught on tape, did it would have something over them, something that could embarrass them personally, professionally, and may help further Diddy's career. The irony is all these videos are now going to be used as evidence against Diddy himself.

So by trying to gain power in Hollywood and in the music business. He may have provided law enforcement and prosecutors the very evidence that's going to be used to take him down. One of the things I've been wondering, and a lot of people have kind of speculated about, is Diddy, he's the king of his own kingdom. He was the boss of Combs Global and the other businesses that he ran. But there may be somebody bigger than him. Is there somebody maybe above him? Does he have anything or anyone to offer the government to get get himself out of trouble? You said you expect him to take this to trial. You don't expect a plea deal. But, you know, there's all this talk and gossip about whether or not Diddy has things he can offer the government, people, people in the sex trafficking trade. And of course,

he contends he's not guilty and he hasn't committed any crimes. But do you see that? Do you see there being people higher up in the food chain than Diddy that he could tell the government about or give information about? There's always the possibility that Diddy is going to flip on others. You know, the question is, who could that be? It really has to be someone very high up, Antoinette. I'm talking people in Washington, D.C., politicians. You know, there aren't a whole lot of people in the music business or in the movie business that are more famous and well-known than Diddy. But if he did identify many other people or all the other people who participated, that certainly would have some

value. It's unlikely, but it's a possibility. Obviously, Diddy would have to turn in a very different direction. But even if he did, I can't imagine any scenario where Diddy gets off with little to no time because of the just egregious nature of these charges. I mean, we've all seen the video of Diddy beating Cassie Ventura. He apologized for it. So he would still get significant time. And I think that Diddy and his lawyers are trying to go for a home run and to argue that this was all consensual, even if it might have been weird or freaky. So I think that's very likely the direction we go in, but anything is possible. Let's talk about the guns for a minute. You know, the U.S. attorney made a point to point

out these guns and that they had the serial numbers scratched off. Why on earth is Sean Combs keeping guns with serial numbers scratched off in his closet in his home. And that was very surprising. I was surprised that those weren't charged in the indictment. Now, maybe there was no venue because the guns were in Miami or his home in Los Angeles and not necessarily RICO predicate acts. But I think the government has a good argument that did he possess the guns? There are some reports that maybe it was his security or security company that possessed them. But when they're in your bedroom, that's possession under the law.

So that was very surprising. And we talked about the different ways did he control the participants or the victims in these sex acts? And obviously, one way could be blackmail or extortion by having the videos, but other could be just brute force, violence and intimidation. I think that's what the AR-15s were there for. Do you expect more to come out of this? Damian Williams said, we're not done. This is ongoing. And I think a lot of people maybe expected more out of the indictment than the three counts.

I mean, they're incredibly serious. But we're talking about one victim in this indictment. We're talking about a RICO charge and then the transportation to engage in prostitution charge. So do you expect a superseding indictment with more charges against Sean Combs and then other arrests, other arrests of people involved in this? And I'm one of those people that expected more. It was six months from the time of the March raids to the time that he was arrested. And now I ask myself, what's taking so long? an arrest happens within days or certainly no more than weeks after a raid because you don't want defendants to take off or to try to tamper with witnesses or evidence which appears to have happened here so waiting is usually not a good idea there's also some potential statute of limitations issues because we're talking about some offenses that may have

been older now even though the statutes run they they might still be RICO predicate acts. But there's many, many reasons not to wait. And I thought maybe the reason that they were waiting is we're going to see a sweeping 100-page indictment involving lots of people and lots of crimes. And certainly, I expected much more than one victim in the indictment. So the answer to that is yes. I don't know what's taking the investigation so long because Cassidy's allegations have been public since at least November. The feds have had plenty of time to talk to witnesses, victims, plaintiffs, I'm sure, would want to cooperate. It could potentially help their civil claim. So I do take Damian Williams at his word. And there probably will be a superseding indictment at some point. Do you think that current employees or past employees of Sean Combs are already cooperating?

Or was this Damian Williams last week when announcing the indictment? Was this him giving those people a chance to come forward and to cooperate? I think both. I think there are people who are cooperating and people that aren't cooperating should cooperate. And he put up the hotline for the freak offs for that reason. And this is why under the law, anyone who participates in a conspiracy and commits overacts in furtherance of the conspiracy, they're criminally liable for all the crimes committed on furtherance of the conspiracy. So that's my lawyer way of saying if someone helped set up the cameras and the lighting or they bought the baby oil or they administered the IVs, they're co-conspirators. So they're theoretically liable for sex trafficking, even though they didn't participate in the sex acts themselves. So they have a lot of exposure and they absolutely

should cooperate because if they don't, there's always the possibility that they get charged. So you predict a superseding indictment with more charges against Diddy. And do you expect rich and famous people to be charged? I think rich and famous people should be charged. It's tough to know what the feds are going to do. Some of them might not have a nexus to New York, so it might tough to know what the feds are going to do. Some of them might not have a nexus to New York, so it might have to be a Los Angeles case or a Miami case. But really, if there are other participants, for them to get a pass just because they didn't actually contact their sex workers, set it up, threaten them, beat them, I think it's problematic and sends a message that only those who actually were at the top of the food chain should get prosecuted.

And it really creates the perception, right or wrong, that people are getting a pass because of their wealth or their connections. And, you know, it seems so crazy to me that Sean Combs, if he is indeed found guilty, he provided much of the evidence to convict himself. I mean, I guess that's what happens in cases like this, but the videotapes won't lie. No question. And that's why I love videotapes as a prosecutor. Like you said, Internet, people can lie, witnesses can lie, but videotape doesn't lie. And, you know, I mentioned the Cassie video from 2016, why it was so powerful. Up until that moment, Diddy, through his lawyers, denied everything. When that video came out, he came out on social media and he gave an apology.

I thought it wasn't a wholehearted apology. And I think he minimized his comment, but he had to because everyone saw that video and how disturbing it was. And I think the evidence in this case that convicts Diddy will likely be the overwhelming video evidence as much as the witness testimony, because some of the witnesses may be victims and they may have a financial motive because some of them obviously have filed those civil lawsuits against Diddy. I want to ask you about Christina Corum, his former chief of staff. He called her his right hand. She was with him for years.

How much trouble could she be in? Corum is in a lot of trouble. She is probably the one, at least if you look at the allegations in the civil lawsuits, that has the most exposure. Diddy, of course, called her his right hand. And some of the lawsuits, I believe Little Rod's lawsuit especially, named her as a defendant. And there's some very damning allegations against her that she had a fanny pack and would provide the drugs to Diddy and the sex workers. She would arrange for the commercial sex workers to be flown in. So

again, those are just allegations in a civil lawsuit. But I think of all the individuals that work for Diddy, I think she appears to be the closest to these freak-offs and the one that's probably the closest to being indicted if she doesn't cooperate. Do you have a feeling on whether or not she probably is cooperating already? I think she should cooperate if she's not. And if she's not cooperating, that's the person I lean on the most. When I was a prosecutor, the two best sources of information for me always

were exes, husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, and employees, current and former. They know where the bodies are buried. So I would contact Christina Foram if I were prosecuting this case. I'd have her come in with her lawyer, and I would explain that she has significant criminal exposure if we decide to charge her and that she should cooperate to save herself. And very likely she would. Do you think Brendan Paul, the guy who is the alleged drug mule, do you think he's already cooperating?

I think he should be cooperating as well. It's so tough to know because obviously those proffers in the U.S. Attorney's Office, those are confidential. And even grand jury proceedings where witnesses come and testify, they're supposed to be secret. Now, of course, there's many good reporters that will stay outside the courthouse, the U.S. Attorney's Office and kind of see who's coming in and out. But yeah, Paul, Khurram, those are the two most likely people that have been named so far. Obviously, in Paul's case, he was arrested as did his alleged drug mule. Those are two very easy targets for cooperation. Well, Nima Rahmani, former federal prosecutor, thanks so much for coming on. Thanks for having me, Anjanette.

And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.