Sean “Diddy” Combs will not be able to pay his way out of trouble if the sweeping federal sex-trafficking probe against him turns up anything untoward — especially in light of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Hip-hop mogul Combs, 54, made headlines last week when his mansions in Miami and Los Angeles were raided following a flurry of civil suits that accused him of sex crimes as well as drug and gun violations.
“You can pay off folks in civil lawsuits to make them go away. But that doesn’t work in a sound criminal investigation — especially on a federal level when it comes to sex trafficking allegations,” former FBI agent Nicole Parker told FOX News Digital of Combs’ options should the feds find proof of illegal behavior.
In November, Combs’ ex-girlfriend, the R&B star Cassie, filed a civil suit that accused the rap icon of years of sexual abuse.
The suit was settled after just one day, but at least a handful of other alleged victims subsequently came forward — including a woman who claimed that Combs raped her when she was just 17.
In February, music producer Rodney Jones filed his own suit that claimed the Bad Boy Records founder coerced him to solicit sex workers and have sex with them.
Combs and his attorneys have denied the allegations.
Parker compared Combs’ situation to Jeffrey Epstein, the high-flying financier and sex offender who used his connections to negotiate a sweetheart deal when he was first investigated by the feds in 2007.
Epstein ultimately avoided federal charges completely in exchange for pleading guilty to a single state count of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18.
The serial sex fiend served 18 months in prison and then walked free until 2019, when he was finally arrested on federal sex trafficking charges and the true extent of his sick crimes came to light.
The Epstein scandal’s long shadow means that it will take a lot more than cash or well-placed friends to get Combs out of the government’s crosshairs, Parker revealed.
“After the[Jeffrey] Epstein debacle, folks know you won’t be able to just make these cases disappear,” she told Fox News Digital.
“They’ll use a lot of the same evidence [from the civil suits] to build their case. Anyone is innocent until proven guilty, but the evidence is mounting,” Parker cautioned.
If the investigation results in a criminal court showdown, there also will not be a nondisclosure agreement, FOx noted.
Derrick Parker, a former NYPD officer and the author of a book about Combs’ acquittal for a 1999 nightclub shooting, agreed that he would not be surprised if the victims in the civil lawsuits work with the feds.
“Some of it may be a money grab because maybe he was disrespectful, but they saw the way that he paid Cassie off,” Parker told Fox News Digital.
“Cassie got paid quick, and the reason that she got paid quick is because she knows a lot,” he suggested.
Combs and his then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez were arrested after three people were wounded in the shooting at Club New York in December 1999.
Combs was acquitted at trial, while rapper Jamal “Shyne” Barrow was hit with a 10-year prison stint for assault — despite victim Natania Reuben insisting to this day that it was Combs who shot her in the face.
Meanwhile, the mother of two of Combs’ sons has accused the Homeland Security Investigations officers who stormed the billionaire’s Holmby Hills mansion of using “militarized force” against her kids.
“Did Christian need a gun pointed at the back of his head while he was handcuffed??” Misa Hylton wrote alongside troubling footage of her sons — 25-year-old Christian and Justin, 30 — being removed from the home.
“How many times have we seen young UNARMED BLACK MEN not make it out of these types of situations alive??” the concerned mom demanded.
Although Christian and Justin were both handcuffed on the lawn of the home, they were not arrested and were allowed to leave sometime later.
With Post wires
