Latest news with #RacketeerInfluencedandCorruptOrganizationsAct
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
What is the RICO Act and why is Sean Combs charged with violating it?
To build a criminal case against Sean 'Diddy' Combs, federal prosecutors are employing the legal weapon once used to take down the country's notorious organized crime families. In a sweeping indictment that accuses Combs of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, prosecutors allege the same business empire that nearly made Combs a billionaire also enabled him to illegally coerce women into sex and conceal his illicit conduct to protect his reputation. Combs has pleaded not guilty to every one of the five counts in the indictment: charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. In dramatic fashion, his lawyers are arguing that Combs may well be a violent man – one who indulges in unconventional sexual conduct, abused illegal drugs and committed domestic violence – but he was not part of a broader criminal organization. MORE: Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial updates 'This case is about those real-life relationships, and the government is trying to turn those relationships into a racketeering case,' Combs' attorney, Teny Geragos, told jurors in her opening statement. 'The evidence is going to show you a very flawed individual, but it will not show you a racketeer, a sex trafficker, or somebody transporting for prostitution.' Long removed from the days of using RICO to break the back of the Mafia, federal prosecutors in recent years have used RICO to target a diverse array of criminals: the R&B singer R. Kelly, convicted for sexually exploiting children; NXIVM Leader Keith Raniere, for sex trafficking; and Bill Hwang, the founder of a multi-billion-dollar investment firm now in prison for manipulating the financial markets. 'While it's typically been used to apply to in the past, to mob and street gangs, it can just as easily be used to apply to a totally otherwise legitimate business,' Rachel Maimin, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor who led the largest gang prosecution in New York City history, said of the RICO statute. 'These are sort of more innovative, creative, broader uses of racketeering than we've seen before.' Statistics show that, in 2018-2022, federal prosecutors won convictions in more than 97% of the cases in which RICO was the most serious charge filed. For the jury of eight men and four women to convict Combs of racketeering conspiracy, they need to decide beyond a reasonable doubt that Combs knowingly worked with others to commit at least two underlying crimes – so-called 'predicate acts' – within 10 years of each other. MORE: Suge Knight speaks out about Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex trafficking case 'The prosecution has to prove this organization was an enterprise run by various people who had an agreement that they would engage in certain illegal behavior to further that enterprise, and they have to prove that there were various predicate acts that were committed,' said Michael Bachner, a white-collar criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. Neither Bachner nor Maimin are involved in Combs' case. Even if Combs is the only person indicted as part of a broader criminal scheme, prosecutors can still argue that he relied on the help of others, such as personal assistants, bodyguards, and business associates. Some of the witnesses against Combs have testified in return for immunity from prosecutors or have spoken with federal authorities during 'proffer' sessions, during which the statements they make cannot be used to prosecute them. Before deliberations in the case begin, Judge Arun Subramanian will issue a 'jury charge,' instructing jurors on the law and how to think about it in reference to the facts that were brought out during the trial, which has already lasted a month. In RICO cases, juries are generally instructed that they need to believe the defendant willfully engaged in a criminal scheme by working with others to commit the two related crimes, Maiman said. In the indictment, a federal grand jury charged that Combs used his 'employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire' to commit crimes including kidnapping, arson, bribery, witness tampering, forced labor, sex trafficking, prostitution, and narcotics distribution. Prosecutors allege that Combs used his businesses – including his famed record label, Bad Boy Entertainment – to run a criminal organization that served to 'to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.' 'The reason why they always did it with a mob and gangs is because they're very hierarchical,' said Maimin, explaining that Mafia families were notorious for crimes being committed by low-level street operators but at the direction of organization leaders like bosses or captains. 'But it makes sense to do a business like Diddy's business empire,' Maimin said, noting that the organized structure and hierarchy of Combs' business might help prosecutors demonstrate it could function like a criminal organization. According to prosecutors, the purpose of Combs' criminal enterprise was to not only secure his power and reputation as a musician and entrepreneur, but also to enable him and others in his orbit to commit crimes. They allege Combs and his associates 'wielded the power and prestige' of his business empire to 'intimidate, threaten and lure female victims into Combs' world,' where he allegedly used threats and coercion to force them into sexual activities, like escapades with strangers and prostitutes and even sex assaults, and then to keep the women silent. MORE: A timeline of the highs and lows of Sean 'Diddy' Combs: From Grammys to legal trouble At the center of the prosecution's case are the elaborate days-long, drug-fueled sex sessions orchestrated by Combs, where he allegedly made women have sex with male prostitutes while he watched, forcing them to participate with drugs, violence and threats. According to witness testimony, Combs' employees were required to help purchase supplies for the event, hire sex workers and coordinate their travel arrangements, and clean up afterward to reduce the chances hotel workers or the public learned about his illicit activity. Former prosecutors told ABC News that charging a defendant with RICO generally gives authorities more flexibility in presenting testimony and evidence to the jury and more stringent prison sentences if a defendant is convicted. 'It is a statute that can encompass a very broad range of criminal activity, and that's why it's very appealing,' said Maimin. According to Bachner, use of RICO sometimes allows prosecutors to introduce evidence of conduct from long ago, tie together multiple criminal acts if they all were connected to a similar purpose, and stiffen potential sentences for defendants. RICO carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years to life, depending on the underlying predicate act. The flexibility of the law sometimes gives prosecutors additional leverage to encourage witnesses to cooperate in their investigation, though the RICO statute does not rely on multiple co-conspirators being charged together. 'You don't have to charge every conspirator, you just have to prove that there was another conspirator,' Bachner said. 'It's not required under the RICO statute that there has to be other named defendants, just at least one other person with a guilty mind.' With jurors so far seeing more than 20 witnesses, they have started to hear about bits and pieces of the alleged broader criminal enterprise that prosecutors described in their opening statement. 'To the public, he was Puff Daddy, or Diddy – a cultural icon, a businessman, larger than life. But there was another side to him, a side that ran a criminal enterprise,' prosecutor Emily Johnson told jurors at the start. 'During this trial, you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant's crimes. But he didn't do it alone. He had an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit crimes and helped him cover them up.' Jurors have so far heard testimony about five potential predicate crimes – including allegations of sex trafficking, arson, bribery, distribution of narcotics, and kidnapping – that prosecutors might use to try to convince the jury to convict on the racketeering charge. MORE: Sean 'Diddy' Combs rejects plea deal ahead of sex trafficking trial Combs' former assistant, Capricorn Clark, testified that Combs and his bodyguard 'kidnapped' her in an attempt to confront and threaten to 'kill' rival rapper Kid Cudi because he was dating Combs' ex-girlfriend. Kid Cudi – whose legal name is Scott Mescudi – also told jurors how he suspected Combs orchestrated the firebombing of his luxury sports car in an act of arson that Combs intended to send a message. 'Sean wanted Scott's friends to be there to see the car get blown up in the driveway,' Combs' ex-girlfriend, the singer Cassie Ventura, told the jury. After Combs assaulted Ventura, following what she told jurors was a 'freak-off' sex session in an LA hotel in 2016, a security guard who responded to the incident testified that Combs offered him money to stay silent about the incident, an act prosecutors may use try to prove Combs committed bribery. The security guard testified that he did not take the money. Another hotel employee, Eddy Garcia, testified under an immunity agreement with prosecutors that Combs and his associates paid him $100,000 for the video footage capturing the assault. Multiple witnesses also told the jury about the process for setting up the "freak-offs," among them personal assistants who said they were sent to purchase illegal drugs for Combs, as well as Ventura, the prosecution's star witness, who testified she coordinated sex workers' travel across state lines so they could participate in the orgies. 'No one witness gives all the evidence to meet every element of every crime,' said Maimin, who clarified that the prosecution's case is like a puzzle now being assembled for the jury. 'People are impatient to hear everything all at once.' Trial experts say the jury might have begun linking together the evidence and testimony that prosecutors say formed a criminal enterprise, as Combs lawyers have tried to cast doubt on allegations central to the case. 'You're seeing now witness after witness come forward talking about his employees assisting in this,' ABC News chief legal analyst Dan Abrams said on "Good Morning America" on Monday. 'Now you have the enterprise – the enterprise is the people working for him doing the things he's telling them to do. And then you have potential crime after crime after crime that's being alleged, everything from kidnapping and arson, to extortion.'
2 days ago
What is the RICO Act and why is Sean Combs charged with violating it?
To build a criminal case against Sean 'Diddy' Combs, federal prosecutors are employing the legal weapon once used to take down the country's notorious organized crime families. In a sweeping indictment that accuses Combs of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, prosecutors allege the same business empire that nearly made Combs a billionaire also enabled him to illegally coerce women into sex and conceal his illicit conduct to protect his reputation. Combs has pleaded not guilty to every one of the five counts in the indictment: charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. In dramatic fashion, his lawyers are arguing that Combs may well be a violent man – one who indulges in unconventional sexual conduct, abused illegal drugs and committed domestic violence – but he was not part of a broader criminal organization. 'This case is about those real-life relationships, and the government is trying to turn those relationships into a racketeering case,' Combs' attorney, Teny Geragos, told jurors in her opening statement. 'The evidence is going to show you a very flawed individual, but it will not show you a racketeer, a sex trafficker, or somebody transporting for prostitution.' Long removed from the days of using RICO to break the back of the Mafia, federal prosecutors in recent years have used RICO to target a diverse array of criminals: the R&B singer R. Kelly, convicted for sexually exploiting children; NXIVM Leader Keith Raniere, for sex trafficking; and Bill Hwang, the founder of a multi-billion-dollar investment firm now in prison for manipulating the financial markets. 'While it's typically been used to apply to in the past, to mob and street gangs, it can just as easily be used to apply to a totally otherwise legitimate business,' Rachel Maimin, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor who led the largest gang prosecution in New York City history, said of the RICO statute. 'These are sort of more innovative, creative, broader uses of racketeering than we've seen before.' Statistics show that, in 2018-2022, federal prosecutors won convictions in more than 97% of the cases in which RICO was the most serious charge filed. What does it take to prove Combs engaged in a criminal enterprise? For the jury of eight men and four women to convict Combs of racketeering conspiracy, they need to decide beyond a reasonable doubt that Combs knowingly worked with others to commit at least two underlying crimes – so-called 'predicate acts' – within 10 years of each other. 'The prosecution has to prove this organization was an enterprise run by various people who had an agreement that they would engage in certain illegal behavior to further that enterprise, and they have to prove that there were various predicate acts that were committed,' said Michael Bachner, a white-collar criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. Neither Bachner nor Maimin are involved in Combs' case. Even if Combs is the only person indicted as part of a broader criminal scheme, prosecutors can still argue that he relied on the help of others, such as personal assistants, bodyguards, and business associates. Some of the witnesses against Combs have testified in return for immunity from prosecutors or have spoken with federal authorities during 'proffer' sessions, during which the statements they make cannot be used to prosecute them. Before deliberations in the case begin, Judge Arun Subramanian will issue a 'jury charge,' instructing jurors on the law and how to think about it in reference to the facts that were brought out during the trial, which has already lasted a month. In RICO cases, juries are generally instructed that they need to believe the defendant willfully engaged in a criminal scheme by working with others to commit the two related crimes, Maiman said. What do prosecutors allege Combs did? In the indictment, a federal grand jury charged that Combs used his 'employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire' to commit crimes including kidnapping, arson, bribery, witness tampering, forced labor, sex trafficking, prostitution, and narcotics distribution. Prosecutors allege that Combs used his businesses – including his famed record label, Bad Boy Entertainment – to run a criminal organization that served to 'to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.' 'The reason why they always did it with a mob and gangs is because they're very hierarchical,' said Maimin, explaining that Mafia families were notorious for crimes being committed by low-level street operators but at the direction of organization leaders like bosses or captains. 'But it makes sense to do a business like Diddy's business empire,' Maimin said, noting that the organized structure and hierarchy of Combs' business might help prosecutors demonstrate it could function like a criminal organization. According to prosecutors, the purpose of Combs' criminal enterprise was to not only secure his power and reputation as a musician and entrepreneur, but also to enable him and others in his orbit to commit crimes. They allege Combs and his associates 'wielded the power and prestige' of his business empire to 'intimidate, threaten and lure female victims into Combs' world,' where he allegedly used threats and coercion to force them into sexual activities, like escapades with strangers and prostitutes and even sex assaults, and then to keep the women silent. At the center of the prosecution's case are the elaborate days-long, drug-fueled sex sessions orchestrated by Combs, where he allegedly made women have sex with male prostitutes while he watched, forcing them to participate with drugs, violence and threats. According to witness testimony, Combs' employees were required to help purchase supplies for the event, hire sex workers and coordinate their travel arrangements, and clean up afterward to reduce the chances hotel workers or the public learned about his illicit activity. What benefit does charging RICO give prosecutors? Former prosecutors told ABC News that charging a defendant with RICO generally gives authorities more flexibility in presenting testimony and evidence to the jury and more stringent prison sentences if a defendant is convicted. 'It is a statute that can encompass a very broad range of criminal activity, and that's why it's very appealing,' said Maimin. According to Bachner, use of RICO sometimes allows prosecutors to introduce evidence of conduct from long ago, tie together multiple criminal acts if they all were connected to a similar purpose, and stiffen potential sentences for defendants. RICO carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years to life, depending on the underlying predicate act. The flexibility of the law sometimes gives prosecutors additional leverage to encourage witnesses to cooperate in their investigation, though the RICO statute does not rely on multiple co-conspirators being charged together. 'You don't have to charge every conspirator, you just have to prove that there was another conspirator,' Bachner said. 'It's not required under the RICO statute that there has to be other named defendants, just at least one other person with a guilty mind.' What have witnesses said so far to help the government's case? With jurors so far seeing more than 20 witnesses, they have started to hear about bits and pieces of the alleged broader criminal enterprise that prosecutors described in their opening statement. 'To the public, he was Puff Daddy, or Diddy – a cultural icon, a businessman, larger than life. But there was another side to him, a side that ran a criminal enterprise,' prosecutor Emily Johnson told jurors at the start. 'During this trial, you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant's crimes. But he didn't do it alone. He had an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit crimes and helped him cover them up.' Jurors have so far heard testimony about five potential predicate crimes – including allegations of sex trafficking, arson, bribery, distribution of narcotics, and kidnapping – that prosecutors might use to try to convince the jury to convict on the racketeering charge. Combs' former assistant, Capricorn Clark, testified that Combs and his bodyguard 'kidnapped' her in an attempt to confront and threaten to 'kill' rival rapper Kid Cudi because he was dating Combs' ex-girlfriend. Kid Cudi – whose legal name is Scott Mescudi – also told jurors how he suspected Combs orchestrated the firebombing of his luxury sports car in an act of arson that Combs intended to send a message. 'Sean wanted Scott's friends to be there to see the car get blown up in the driveway,' Combs' ex-girlfriend, the singer Cassie Ventura, told the jury. After Combs assaulted Ventura, following what she told jurors was a 'freak-off' sex session in an LA hotel in 2016, a security guard who responded to the incident testified that Combs offered him money to stay silent about the incident, an act prosecutors may use try to prove Combs committed bribery. The security guard testified that he did not take the money. Another hotel employee, Eddy Garcia, testified under an immunity agreement with prosecutors that Combs and his associates paid him $100,000 for the video footage capturing the assault. Multiple witnesses also told the jury about the process for setting up the "freak-offs," among them personal assistants who said they were sent to purchase illegal drugs for Combs, as well as Ventura, the prosecution's star witness, who testified she coordinated sex workers' travel across state lines so they could participate in the orgies. 'No one witness gives all the evidence to meet every element of every crime,' said Maimin, who clarified that the prosecution's case is like a puzzle now being assembled for the jury. 'People are impatient to hear everything all at once.' Trial experts say the jury might have begun linking together the evidence and testimony that prosecutors say formed a criminal enterprise, as Combs lawyers have tried to cast doubt on allegations central to the case. 'You're seeing now witness after witness come forward talking about his employees assisting in this,' ABC News chief legal analyst Dan Abrams said on "Good Morning America" on Monday. 'Now you have the enterprise – the enterprise is the people working for him doing the things he's telling them to do. And then you have potential crime after crime after crime that's being alleged, everything from kidnapping and arson, to extortion.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Diddy defense preview? His lawyer defended 'sex cult' leader in eerily similar case
NEW YORK ― A charismatic man coerced women into sex and silence. His inner circle transported victims, reaping financial rewards. Sleep deprivation abounded. Those are all allegations against Sean "Diddy" Combs, whose sex-trafficking trial heads to opening statements on Monday, May 12. But they are also similar to the charges in a 2019 sex-trafficking trial against self-help guru Keith Raniere, the so-called NXIVM "sex cult" leader. And the similarities could offer an early window into Combs' defense. After all, the two men went to trial with the same lawyer: Marc Agnifilo. As a federal prosecutor in the 2000s, Agnifilo helped expand the government's use of a 1970 law designed to take down the mafia, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act or "RICO." Agnifilo helped broaden the use of RICO to also tackle street gangs. However, as a defense lawyer Agnifilo argued that using that law against Raniere was a bridge too far. The law is now being used against Combs to allege he ran a criminal enterprise that involved kidnapping, forced labor, and sex trafficking. Agnifilo, who lost Raniere's case, didn't respond to USA TODAY's request for comment on how he will be approaching Combs' defense and whether his strategy will mirror that defense. But Season 2 of HBO's "The Vow," in which Agnifilo let a documentary team follow him through the trial, offers clues to what the defense could look like. The prominent New York defense lawyer is also representing accused UnitedHealthcare CEO-killer Luigi Mangione along with his wife, Karen Agnifilo, who is leading that defense team. Marc Agnifilo also represented former pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli and ex-International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn in high-profile cases. To prove their sex-trafficking charges against Combs, prosecutors will have to show that Combs knew his alleged victims were participating in "freak off" parties that involved sexual activities as a result of force, fraud, and coercion. It's an element of the charges that's not just about whether the parties happened, but also about Combs' intent and whether he believed the women had freely consented. When Raniere faced similar sex-trafficking charges, Agnifilo approached that issue head-on, portraying Raniere as a man who lived an atypical sexual lifestyle, but who always had good intentions. "I don't have to defend everything to win this case, but one thing I am going to defend is his intentions," Agnifilo said in his opening statement at Raniere's trial. "I'm going to defend his good faith." Agnifilo has already dropped hints that he will pursue a similar strategy in Combs' case. At an April 25 pre-trial hearing, Agnifilo said he plans to tell jurors that there is a certain alternative sexual lifestyle – "call it swingers" – that Combs belonged to. He said being able to describe that lifestyle to jurors will be crucial to showing Combs didn't have the necessary intent to be guilty. More broadly, Agnifilo tried to humanize Raniere throughout his trial. "Keith undoubtedly believes that his work with NXIVM is good, and I think it's helped a lot of people," Agnifilo said at the time. It's a strategy that's in line with Agnifilo's general style, according to Mitchell Epner, a long-time litigator who worked in the New Jersey federal prosecuting office at the same time as Agnifilo. "His style is to make the jury believe that he is investing his personality in the defendant," Epner said. Epner described it in the following way: "I'm likable. You like me. I'm a charismatic guy. I like my client. I'm standing behind him, I'm putting my hands on his shoulders. I am investing whatever halo effect I have on my client. And therefore, you should think good things about my client." In Raniere's trial, Agnifilo appeared to conclude that the defense's Achilles' heel was evidence that practically any juror would see as morally abhorrent. That included sexual images of someone the jury concluded was a minor. Even though that evidence spoke directly only to charges that Raniere sexually exploited a child and possessed child sexual-abuse material, Agnifilo believed it damned the entire defense. "After Keith's sentencing I said, 'You know, Keith, this was a fascinating debate, and maybe even a debate that we win until you have allegations of, you know, underage sex and pornography,'" Agnifilo said in the documentary. "Then you don't get to be a participant in the debate anymore, and no one's going to listen to your viewpoint the same way." Combs is also going to be up against evidence that no juror is likely to countenance: a video that appears to show Combs dragging and kicking his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in a hotel hallway. Judge Arun Subramanian ruled April 25 that prosecutors will be able to show the video at trial, despite the defense's objections. Agnifilo's experience in Raniere's trial may cause him to think especially hard about how to challenge the evidence Combs faces. In court filings ahead of trial, the defense has suggested the video may have been doctored. CNN, which made the video public in its broadcast, has denied the allegations. Agnifilo's experience with the Raniere case could also give him food for thought when it comes to picking a jury that is going to see morally troubling evidence. Robert Hirschhorn, a lawyer and jury consultant, told USA TODAY ahead of jury selection that, if he were on the defense team, he might argue Combs is guilty of domestic violence, but he was overcharged with sex trafficking. Hirschhorn would test whether potential jurors could set aside the video by asking if they could work through and compartmentalize a significant other cheating. "Everybody that says, 'compartmentalize,' I don't care what else they say – Unless they say, 'I already think Diddy's guilty,' I'm putting them on the jury every day," Hirschhorn said. Another of Agnifilo's tactics to try to combat the case against Raniere was to use the words of his victims against them. "These women who are saying that they're victims, yet see, how do they speak to Keith?" Agnifilo asked rhetorically ahead of witness testimony. "That's when the jury's gonna start seeing what this case is really about, when we actually get to the evidence." It was a strategy he employed over and over as prosecutors put women on the stand who testified that Raniere coerced them. With one witness who testified that, at Raniere's direction, she started sending him nude images and entered into a "master-slave" relationship with him, Agnifilo pointed to her text messages to cast doubt on her claims of coercion. "You were asking to see Keith on a pretty regular basis?" Agnifilo asked. "I was just following the instructions of my master," the woman responded. "Have you told my client that you love him?" Agnifilo asked. "I tried to be the best slave I could be so that things would work out for me," the woman responded. When another woman, a Mexican citizen, testified that Raniere forced her to stay in a room for two years after she kissed another man, Agnifilo again pointed to what she wrote. "What you write here is, 'From my love for you and what is unfinished between us, I gathered the strength to go against my own momentum and be honest with myself,'" he said. "This is a very complex situation," she replied. "I have no money, no papers, and I was threatened with both being sent back to Mexico, and also threatened with being completely cut off from everyone I knew," she said. Agnifilo has experience with just how impactful an alleged victims' own statements can be. New York prosecutors dropped a sexual assault case against his client, former French politician Strauss-Kahn, based on statements they believed called her story into question. Just as with that woman in Raniere's case, prosecutors in Combs' case say he leaned on other members of his alleged enterprise to help him monitor women and keep them from leaving. They plan to introduce testimony from a psychologist on why victims might stay in abusive or violent relationships. In Raniere's case, Agnifilo also wanted to bring in witnesses who could testify to participating in an organization within NXIVM, "DOS," that prosecutors alleged was used to traffic women. "The only way to rectify it is to hear from these DOS women firsthand and set the record straight and say, 'Listen, I joined DOS for my own reasons,'" Agnifilo said as he was preparing for trial. "Even the power and might of the great federal government hasn't shaken these women from that belief." In practice, that strategy didn't work out for him. When it came time for the defense to present witnesses, nobody wanted to do it. "We went to several different countries and interviewed hundreds of people to be witnesses in this case, and we got what I think was good information," he said after the trial. "But when it came time to actually, you know, travel to Brooklyn, enter that courtroom, sit in the witness chair, not a lot of people wanted to do that." Agnifilo will likely be hoping witnesses for Combs will stay the course even as prosecutors present testimony and evidence over several weeks that could likewise paint Combs in a highly-negative light. In court filings ahead of the trial, the defense team and prosecutors have been arguing over whether Combs should be able to present that kind of testimony. Ultimately, Agnifilo's defense didn't work out for Raniere, who was found guilty on every charge he faced. Still, a recent development – Combs' decision to reject a plea offer – may indicate Agnifilo is optimistic for a better outcome this time. (The details of the offer – or what Agnifilo advised – weren't publicly revealed.) When Raniere was headed to trial, Agnifilo said, "If your client's guilty and the government can prove it, cut a deal and call it a day." Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in prison. His appeal is ongoing. Aysha Bagchi covers the Department of Justice for USA TODAY. She is an attorney, Harvard Law graduate, and Rhodes Scholar. You can follow her on X and Bluesky at @AyshaBagchi. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A look at Diddy lawyer's strategy in eerily similar 'sex cult' trial
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sean ‘Diddy' Combs could lose his freedom – and his vast empire of mansions, art and cars
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' 1997 hit 'It's All About the Benjamins' sums up the rap mogul's voracious thirst for the good life and ostentatious trappings of wealth: 'Colossal-sized Picassos,' 5-carat diamond rings, Cristal Champagne and skiing in Aspen with 'chicks who win beauty pageants.' By becoming a successful entrepreneur in the music, fashion, liquor and other realms, Combs became a mogul. He bought all that and more – private jets, exotic cars, mansions on both coasts. Now, as Combs faces a jury trial that could send him to prison for life, he's also fighting a Justice Department forfeiture action that could cost him much – if not most – of an empire that prosecutors allege he used as part of a criminal racketeering enterprise from 2008 to the present. Combs and his defense team have denied all allegations against him, characterizing some as baseless 'money grabs.' He has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. But in a sign of how serious the disgraced entrepreneur is taking the asset forfeiture effort, his lawyers have hired as a consultant the former deputy chief of the Justice Department's Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, USA TODAY has learned. Stefan Cassella, who serves as an expert witness and consultant to law enforcement agencies and wrote two books on the topic, has trained thousands of prosecutors and federal law enforcement agents across the United States and their counterparts overseas. Cassella said he could not comment on the specifics of the case because of his involvement in it. Broadly speaking, though, he told USA TODAY that by charging Combs under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, the government is taking an aggressive approach to seizing as many of Combs' assets as possible. 'RICO forfeiture is intended to be very broad, and so it has significant consequences' for Combs, Cassella said in an exclusive interview. 'So, it's going to boil down to what they can prove was part of the enterprise.' Prosecutors declined to comment, citing the ongoing case. In many RICO cases, prosecutors include very specific allegations of what 'instrumentalities' were used as part of an alleged racketeering enterprise, legal speak for what people, cars, planes, houses and companies helped facilitate the criminal behavior, said James Trusty, the former longtime chief of DOJ's Organized Crime and Gang Section. But in an ominous sign of prosecutors' intentions, Trusty said, the Combs indictment and related court documents essentially target all his business and personal assets. 'They've written a very broadly worded forfeiture allegation,' Trusty said. 'It's so vague and so broad that I would think the defense would push for a bill of particulars,' or a more specific explanation of what the feds are going after. One thing for certain, Trusty said, is that the fancy cars, houses and planes that Combs has accumulated are in the prosecutors' crosshairs, as are any of his companies that could broadly be construed as being part of the racketeering enterprise in the slightest of ways. For instance, if an assault took place at a record studio, it could implicate not only that studio but the record company Combs used to pay musical artists to record there, Trusty said. If Combs is convicted, the jury must then decide how much of his empire is subject to forfeiture, according to Cassella, Trusty, Justice Department law and a breakdown of RICO and asset forfeiture statutes by Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute. So how much is Combs worth? What is the government explicitly seeking? And how accessible are his assets after years of Combs trying to protect himself from growing accusations of criminal misconduct? In 2024, Forbes magazine estimated Combs' net worth at $400 million – a significant drop from its 2019 figure of $740 million. Both Combs and his team later claimed he was a billionaire, Forbes said, despite offering no documentation to back up the claim. According to publicly available documents and news reports, Combs' most valuable personal possession is likely his 17,000-square-foot, 10-bedroom mansion, appraised at more than $61 million, in the tony Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles. It was raided as part of a criminal probe and listed for sale last September. Combs also owns a 9,600-square-foot house in Toluca Lake just northwest of the Hollywood Sign. And he owns a $48 million mansion at 2 West Star Island in Miami and the adjacent property at 1 West Star Island. On Aug. 20, 2024, Combs paid off the $18.9 million mortgage so he could put up 2 West Star as collateral in his failed efforts to obtain bail and stay out of jail while awaiting trial, documents show. Combs also owns a Gulfstream G550 jet valued at more than $25 million, known as LoveAir, which he rents out while also seeking a sale to help pay his enormous legal expenses. Also, potentially open to forfeiture: Combs' Bad Boy Records, which still generates money from recordings and music publishing rights since he launched the company in 1993. Combs is not known to own any 'Colossal-sized Picassos,' as he sings about in his hit song. But he is believed to have an extensive art collection, including works by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. In 2018, he was revealed as the mystery buyer of the renowned painting 'Past Times' by Kerry James Marshall for $21.1 million. At one time, his fleet of at least 20 luxury cars included a Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini and an ultra-luxury Mercedes known as a Maybach. In February 2023, Combs announced that 'after three decades of entrepreneurial success across his renowned brands,' he was 'rebranding' and changing the name of his parent company from Combs Enterprises to Combs Global. That, Combs said, more accurately reflected his ambitious vision for the future, including his 'landmark acquisition of becoming the largest minority-owned, vertically integrated multi-state operator in the cannabis industry' for $185 million. At its founding in 2013, Combs Enterprises included his New York City-based Bad Boy Entertainment, Combs Wines and Spirits, the AQUAhydrate water firm, Revolt Media, Sean John fashion and fragrances, Capital Preparatory Charter Schools and The Sean Combs Foundation. Over the years, it expanded to include new business units and ventures such as Empower Global, Our Fair Share and Love Records, which focused on R&B. "Combs Global represents the next chapter in my journey as a business leader and a bigger vision to build the largest portfolio of leading Black-owned brands in the world," Combs said. "I've enlisted world-class teams of top executives, specialists and strategic partners to bring this new dream to life and put us in the best position to keep making history while leading another 30 years of dominance across industries." In November 2023, Combs' empire began to crumble following allegations of rape, beatings and abuse by his former girlfriend Cassie, also known as Casandra Ventura Fine. His Bad Boy music catalog, once worth $125 million, plummeted in value because of bad publicity. Combs had struck gold through his partnership with global distilled spirits conglomerate Diageo, which has said it paid him more than $1 billion for promoting its Ciroc vodka over the years. It also partnered with Combs to launch the DeLeón Tequila brand. But Combs sold his half of the tequila company in January 2024 for about $200 million. His Sean John 'urban streetwear' clothing and fragrance line once sold more than $500 million annually but was reportedly dropped by Macy's department store in November 2023. In June 2024, Combs sold his stake in Revolt Media, which he'd founded a decade earlier as a music industry-focused cable channel meant to boost Black representation on TV. Combs' partnerships also ended with Love Records, Capital Preparatory Schools and the Empower Global online Black business marketplace. And the cannabis venture ultimately failed due to merger complications. Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, or Manhattan, have unsealed the indictment against Combs. Other alleged coconspirators are indicted under seal. But the indictment also mentions Combs' business, 'headquartered at various times in Manhattan and Los Angeles,' under a variety of U.S.-based corporate entities, including Bad Boy Entertainment, Combs Enterprises and Combs Global. Collectively, it refers to all of them as the "Combs Business.' And while it avoids specific entities, it says they include 'among other things, record labels, a recording studio, an apparel line, an alcoholic spirits business, a marketing agency, and a television network and media company.' According to federal law, anything that's forfeited following a criminal conviction could conceivably be used to help some or all of those alleged to have been victimized by Combs. Both Cassella and Trusty said, however, that the federal RICO statute is designed more to punish the convicted rather than compensate the victims. It does not, for instance, include the kind of headline-grabbing multimillion-dollar awards for the pain and suffering and reputational damage caused by the accused that is common in civil suits like the one brought by Ventura Fine. Instead, victims in a criminal case would be eligible for using asset forfeiture money for repayment of medical expenses, funeral expenses if a death was involved, 'literal out of pocket reimbursement for victims' costs like that,' Trusty said. 'It's not a full picture of the restitution that they're actually owed under the law,' he said. 'The criminal law has just never been as expansive as civil law' when it comes to making whole victims of criminal acts. Victims of alleged Combs criminal acts can, however, seek a share of forfeited assets through civil lawsuits and prosecutions, Trusty and Cassella said. To date, more than 70 lawsuits have been filed against Combs, many of them claiming sexual abuse. In Combs' case, prosecutors and FBI investigators are likely looking for assets that the embattled music mogul may have hidden, especially in recent years as his legal problems mounted. Combs himself might have alluded to a propensity to stash money away in the 1997 hit that helped launch his rapping career after years as a producer and impresario. 'And what you can't have now, leave in your will,' Combs sings in 'All About the Benjamins.' 'But don't knock me for tryin' to bury, seven zeros over in Rio de Janeiry.' (This story was updated to meet our standards.) Josh Meyer is a veteran correspondent focusing on domestic, national and global security issues, including transnational criminal organizations. Reach him at JMeyer@ Follow him on X at @JoshMeyerDC and Bluesky at @ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Diddy net worth is huge. Prosecutors think 'Benjamins' up for grabs
New Straits Times
27-05-2025
- New Straits Times
Ecstasy, bribery accusations in 'Diddy' trial bolster racketeering charge
TWO weeks into the sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs, witnesses have accused the hip-hop mogul of everything from breaking into a rival's home to taking ecstasy and attempting to intimidate or pay off witnesses in the case. Combs is not charged with any of these alleged crimes, but legal experts say these allegations could provide powerful fodder for the prosecution's use of a sweeping mafia-busting law that has widened the scope of the case against Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records who helped turn hip-hop mainstream. Known as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, "RICO" allows prosecutors to introduce evidence of crimes that are not charged in the indictment or even tied directly to the defendant, known as predicates or "bad acts." That has allowed the prosecutors in Combs' case to show jurors evidence they would not have seen if he was charged only with sex trafficking, helping prosecutors paint a more compelling picture of his alleged criminal activity, said Bobby Taghavi, a defence lawyer and former prosecutor. "RICO allows you to bring in the bigger picture," Taghavi said. "His lifestyle, his power, his anger issues the way people had to obey him – the 360-degree view of his conduct." Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court to one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. The trial, which could last two months and will enter its third week of testimony on Tuesday, has drawn intense media attention. The jury of 12 must vote unanimously to convict on any of the charges. If convicted, Combs faces 15 years to life in prison. Manhattan federal prosecutors allege Combs violently coerced and blackmailed women and paid for male escorts to participate in drug-fuelled sex parties he called "Freak Offs." An indictment against Combs last September alleges he did this through the "Combs Enterprise," a group of businesses and employees engaged in a pattern of prostitution, forced labour and a half-dozen other crimes dating to 2008. Combs' lawyers have conceded the rapper abused his ex-girlfriend but have argued prosecutors are trying to criminalise consensual sex and his "swingers' lifestyle." Combs will be able to call his own witnesses after the prosecution rests. RICO became law in 1970 and was aimed at taking down organised crime bosses by tying them to crimes committed by their underlings. To prove RICO charges, prosecutors must show that members of a so-called enterprise, or group of people engaged in a common purpose, committed or planned to commit two other crimes in connection with the enterprise within a ten-year period. The Combs case is an unusual application of RICO, according to legal experts, who say the law is not typically used in cases that primarily concern things like sex trafficking and prostitution. During four days of testimony, the prosecution's star witness, Combs' ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura testified that Combs was a domineering serial abuser prone to fits of jealous rage. "I'd expect the defence will ask the jurors at closing, "Did you see a criminal organisation? A racketeering enterprise? Or is this really a domestic violence case dressed up to look like an organised crime case?" said Mark Chutkow, a defence lawyer and former prosecutor with experience trying RICO cases. But prosecutors have called several witnesses to try to back their theory that crime was central to Combs' empire. The rapper known as Kid Cudi told the jury Combs broke into his home and likely had a role in the torching of his car. An ex-employee said Combs regularly took opiates and ecstasy. And a hotel security guard recalled Combs offered him a stack of cash to buy his silence after he saw Combs beat Ventura. Combs' lawyers have argued that evidence of this kind is irrelevant. Prosecutors have countered that it is admissible because it is related to the so-called means and methods of the Combs Enterprise. For example, defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo objected to Combs' former personal chef testifying about a time Combs allegedly assaulted her. "I think we're just getting very far afield, and I think this is becoming sort of a bad act free-for-all," Agnifilo told US District Judge Arun Subramanian outside the presence of the jury on May 19. Subramanian said he would allow the testimony. There is legal precedent for applying RICO in sexual abuse cases from the case of rapper R. Kelly, who argued in an unsuccessful appeal of his 2021 conviction that allegations of assault were unrelated to racketeering. And evidence in the Combs' case suggests that his business empire was riddled by illegal acts, according to Michelle Simpson Tuegel, an attorney following the case. "That could show he was not just an abusive person and a bad guy but the leader of a criminal enterprise carrying out commercial sex using weapons and blackmail," Simpson Tuegel said.
