DEN OF SIN
Disgraced Diddy ‘KNEW he was going down so paid off mortgage on $48m “Freak Off” mansion in Miami before shock arrest’
The embattled hip-hop tycoon is being held in a rat-infested jail as he awaits trial
SEAN "Diddy" Combs quietly paid off the mortgage on his $48 million Star Island mansion before his arrest.
The disgraced music mogul settled the outstanding $18.8 million as sex trafficking charges loomed.
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Combs, 54, remains in custody after being charged with sex trafficking, as well as racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.
But before his arrest on September 16, Combs is understood to have anticipated a legal firestorm and paid off the mortgage on his swanky 14,800 square foot Star Island pad in Miami.
Cops raided the seven-bedroom waterfront estate back in March - and reportedly discovered a stash of drugs, baby oil and lubricants.
Prosecutors allege the shamed rap star ran an underground ring of drug-fueled parties he called "Freak Offs" at the site - which boasts multiple pools and a spa.
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At these so-called parties Combs allegedly forced victims to have sex with hired sex workers while it was filmed on camera.
Freak Offs often involved drug usage to keep participants "obedient and compliant," followed by IV fluids to help them recover afterward, prosecutors allege.
Combs would then use the "sensitive, embarrassing, and incriminating" footage "as collateral to ensure the continued obedience and silence of the victims," it is claimed.
The embattled hip-hop tycoon has denied the allegations of running a sex-crime empire, which stem from a months-long investigation.
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But last week Combs had his bail bid denied by a judge - leaving him holed up in a hellhole rat-infested prison as he awaits trial.
In an attempt to secure bail, his defense team had proposed a $50 million bond package - with his Star Island home at the center of the offer.
Moment Diddy jokes about 'locking women up at parties' on Late Night With Conan O'Brien in resurfaced clip before arrest
Attorney Marc Agnifilo told the court: "We paid off the mortgage because that is what it means to build trust."
But the judge dismissed this, arguing Combs could still flee before trial.
Despite his attorney claiming Combs cleared the mortgage last August to "build trust", legal sources claim it could be for another reason.
Combs was likely looking to take advantage of Florida's Homestead Act, which stops homeowners losing the equity in their primary residence no matter what, a source told the .
It means the rapper's key asset will be protected regardless of any potential legal issues.
If Combs is convicted and receives the maximum sentence, he faces life in prison.
The minimum sentence is 15 years.
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Combs lost two appeals for bail last week, despite making multiple promises of better behavior in exchange for his freedom.
His initial court appearance last Tuesday saw a judge order him to be held without bail, citing “very significant concerns” about his reported substance abuse and “anger issues.”
An appeal led to Combs' three sons Quincy Brown, Christian “King” Combs, and Justin Combs co-signing a $50 million bail proposal.
A second judge on Wednesday once again denied the plea and ruled Combs would remain jailed pending trial.
The rapper is alleged to have used "certain employees" to “carry out, facilitate and cover up his abuse and commercial sex [ring]."
According to the indictment, "high-ranking supervisors" helped orchestrate "freak offs" - which Combs called the alleged drug-fuelled sexual performances.
Diddy's downfall
By The U.S. Sun's Senior Reporter Forrest McFarland, who has been reporting on Diddy's legal battles for years
BEFORE Sean "Diddy" Combs' arrest on Monday night, it had been highly speculated that the rap star would find himself in custody after he was repeatedly hit with disturbing accusations - and had two of his mansions raided by the feds.
His mounting legal troubles finally came to a head on September 17, when he was charged with three federal counts, including sex trafficking, for allegedly forcing victims to take part in drug-fueled sex parties he called "Freak Offs."
Hours before his arrest, The U.S. Sun exclusively revealed the feds investigating Combs were secretly liaising with Tupac Shakur murder prosecutors on gangland activities.
The development also came after Combs was named 77 times in documents submitted by prosecutors in the Tupac murder case.
Aside from the Tupac probe, Combs was already facing a slew of lawsuits, including one he settled with his ex, Cassie Ventura, after she accused him of rape and abuse.
Disturbing hotel surveillance video from 2016 showed Combs chasing Cassie down and then punching, kicking, and beating her in a hallway.
Two months earlier, in March 2024, two of Combs' mansions were raided by federal investigators, who seized three AR-15s, drugs, and 1,000 bottles of lube which were part of his "Freak Off" supplies.
In addition to his federal criminal charges, Combs also faces a handful of lawsuits with allegations of sexual assault, harassment, and sex trafficking dating back to the early 1990s.
Music producer Rodney 'Lil Rod' Jones filed one suit in February 2024, claiming Combs forced him to hire sex workers and participate in sex acts while he worked on his latest album.
Combs has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to the federal sex trafficking charges against him, but his battle is far from over.
He faces life in prison if he's convicted on all counts.
The unsealed indictment alleges that Combs forced victims to have sex with sex workers and recorded the disturbing scenes.
Prosecutors allege that "Freak Offs were elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded."
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Documents claim Combs arranged for sex workers to be transported internationally and across state lines for the Freak Offs, which sometimes lasted for multiple days and involved several sex workers.
Prosecutors said that Combs used "the sensitive, embarrassing, and incriminating recordings that he made during Freak Offs as collateral to ensure the continued obedience and silence of the victims."
Recent lawsuits against Sean 'Diddy' Combs
Diddy was hit with a wave of lawsuits in late 2023 and 2024 with allegations of sex trafficking and sexual assault. He has denied all claims against him.
- November 17, 2023: Cassie, Diddy's longtime girlfriend, sued him, claiming she endured “a cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking” until their relationship ended in 2018. Diddy and Cassie settled the suit the day after it was filed.
- Diddy was hit with two more lawsuits a week after he settled with Cassie.
- November 23, 2023: Joi Dickerson accused Diddy of drugging and raping her and filming the attack when she was a 19-year-old college student in January 1991.
- November 24, 2023: A second unidentified accuser in a separate lawsuit claimed that Diddy and another man sexually assaulted her and a friend in 1990 or 1991, then showed up at her apartment and beat her several days later.
- December 6, 2023: Diddy was sued again by an unidentified woman who claimed he and two men gang-raped her in 2003 when she was 17 years old.
- February 26, 2024: Rodney 'Lil Rod' Jones, who helped produce Diddy's most recent album, claimed that the mogul sexually harassed, drugged, and threatened him from September 2022 to November 2023 as they worked together.
- May 21, 2024: Model Crystal McKinney accused Combs of sexually assaulting her after meeting at a Men's Fashion Week event in New York City in 2003. McKinney claims she was drinking alcohol and smoking weed with Combs and several of his colleagues when she took a hit off a joint that she claims was laced with another drug. McKinney claims she felt woozy, and Combs ordered her to the bathroom, where he allegedly forced her to perform oral sex on him.
- May 23, 2024: April Lampros, 51, claimed in her lawsuit that she met Sean Combs in New York City in 1994 while attending the Fashion Institute of Technology. Combs is accused of drugging and raping Lampros in a hotel after promising to help mentor her in the fashion industry.
- July 3, 2024: Adria English, an ex-porn star who went by Omunique, accused Diddy of grooming her into sex trafficking in the early 2000s, according to .
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