NEW YORK – American federal agents raided homes in Los Angeles and Miami on March 25 that are connected to hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, a person with knowledge of the case said.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) carried out the raids, but did not provide details about the case, including whether Combs was a target or which criminal charges were being investigated.

Combs, who is also known as Puff Daddy or Diddy, has been accused of sexual assault and sex trafficking in multiple lawsuits over the past several months.

A spokesperson for Combs did not respond to a request for comment.

The criminal inquiry was being conducted by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York and federal agents with Homeland Security, a law enforcement official said. Mr Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the Southern District, declined to comment.

In a statement, Homeland Security said agents from New York had “executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners”.

Video from Fox 11 (KTTV), a local television station in Los Angeles, showed armed officers entering a home in the Holmby Hills area of the city, which a law enforcement official said is connected to Combs. Public records in California also indicate that the home is owned by a company led by Combs.

The raids were a stunning development in the career of Combs, 54, a producer, label executive and occasional rapper who has been one of the most influential and widely recognised figures in the music business over the past 30 years.

He played an integral role in the transformation of hip-hop into a global commercial force, crafting hits and larger-than-life personas for rap and R&B performers including The Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige.

He also had smash hits, including I’ll Be Missing You (1997), a ballad to The Notorious B.I.G. after his killing that year in a drive-by shooting.

But Combs has also been dogged for decades by accusations of violence. In November, he was sued for sexual assault by Ms Casandra Ventura, his former girlfriend, who was also signed to his label, Bad Boy, as the performing artiste Cassie.

In her suit, Ms Ventura accused Combs of forcing her to engage in sexual activity with male prostitutes over a period of years. The suit said that as a result of those encounters, which took place in a number of cities across the United States, she was a victim of sex trafficking.

Ms Ventura’s civil suit was settled in just one day, with her and Combs saying their dispute had been resolved “amicably”.

That case, filed in a detailed 35-page complaint, drew headlines around the world and imperiled the business brand he had built up over decades. In the months before Ms Ventura’s suit, Combs was given industry awards and released his first studio album in 17 years.

Even after its settlement, Ms Ventura’s suit was followed by several more cases, each accusing Combs of sexual assault.

In one case filed in February, music producer Rodney Jones said that Combs had made unwanted sexual contact with him, and forced him to hire prostitutes and participate in sex acts with them. In recent months, many of Combs’ business partners have distanced themselves from him.

Federal investigators in New York have been leading the investigation and asking potential witnesses about sexual misconduct allegations against Combs for several months, according to a person familiar with the interviews.

Combs has denied the accusations against him.

In December, after an anonymous woman filed a suit accusing Combs and two other men of raping her in a New York recording studio in 2003, when she was 17, the music mogul said: “Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.”

After Jones’ suit in February, Ms Shawn Holley, a lawyer for Combs, said Jones is “nothing more than a liar who filed a US$30 million (S$40 million) lawsuit shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday”, and called his accusations “pure fiction”.

Ms Holley and two other lawyers for Combs also did not respond to requests for comment on March 25.

In a statement on March 25, Mr Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer who represents Ms Ventura and the woman who sued Combs alleging the assault at a New York studio, said: “We will always support law enforcement when it seeks to prosecute those that have violated the law. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr Combs responsible for his depraved conduct.” NYTIMES