Judge refuses Diddy’s US$50m bail offer, rapper to stay in jail until trial begins

NEW YORK – Embattled rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is set to spend time in jail until the beginning of his trial on sex trafficking and racketeering allegations, despite his lawyers dangling a US$50m bail carrot for the judges.

Combs, who was arrested on Monday in New York, has been charged with one count each of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

A New York federal judge remanded the musician into custody on Tuesday after prosecutors argued he was a “serious flight risk”.

On Wednesday, US district judge Andrew L Carter Jr denied Combs’s request to be released to home detention with GPS monitoring, pointing to the possibility that Combs may tamper with witnesses.

Carter’s denial marked the second refusal to grant Combs the hefty bail package, which included the $50m bond, as well as the passports of his children and mother.

Prosecutors argued that Combs was “a serious flight risk” and that his net worth was close to $1bn, including more than $1m in personal cash on hand as of last December.

“My bigger concern deals with the danger of obstruction of justice and the danger of witness tampering,” Judge Andrew Carter said. “That is a real concern that I have here.”

After the ruling, Mr Combs’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, told reporters the ruling “did not go our way,” adding “the fight continues”.

With Combs set to face jail time in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan detention center, he will be joining a string of other high-profile detainees who have spent time there including R Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell, Michael Cohen and Sam Bankman-Fried.

A 14-page indictment charges Mr Combs with racketeering, sex trafficking by force and transportation to engage in prostitution.

The federal indictment contained graphic details, including that Combs would force sex-trafficking victims to engage in group sex acts with associates of his in what he referred to as “freak offs” – sometimes for days at a time – while he recorded video of the encounters and masturbated to them.