Legal experts assert that any potential confidentiality agreements between Sean "Diddy" Combs and his accusers, or individuals in his sphere who may have witnessed alleged misconduct, would not inhibit them from cooperating with federal investigators probing the hip-hop mogul in a sex-trafficking inquiry.
"They aren’t bound by anything, so they can sing like a canary," stated David Gelman, a defense attorney from New Jersey and former prosecutor tracking the case. "They can speak because NDAs don’t cover illegal activities."
Combs, the billionaire founder of Bad Boy Records and the Sean John fashion empire, is confronted with several civil lawsuits alleging sexual assault, trafficking, and physical abuse.
Concurrently, federal investigators have executed search warrants at his residences in Los Angeles and Miami. Derrick Parker, New York City's "hip-hop cop," mentioned that accusations from a settled lawsuit by Combs' former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, known as R&B singer Cassie, could be a focal point for investigators.
Parker, renowned for his book "Notorious C.O.P." recounting his tenure in the NYPD's rap-related intelligence unit, played a pivotal role in the investigation into Combs following a 1999 nightclub shooting.
"She already alleged some criminal acts right before he settled with her," Parker disclosed to Fox News Digital.
"They could subpoena her about what she said, how she knew." Ventura's lawsuit detailed allegations of rape, physical abuse, destruction of property, solicitation of illegal services, and coercion.
"Congress also passed a law last year making it illegal to enforce an NDA to prevent a sexual harassment or sexual assault victim from speaking out," remarked Neama Rahmani, a trial attorney and former federal prosecutor from Los Angeles monitoring the case.
"The allegations in a civil complaint are protected as well, which means Diddy can't really do anything to silence his accusers in a court of law."
Ventura's civil complaint suggested that Combs' associates and Bad Boy employees were witnesses to some of the purported crimes.
However, any NDAs they might have signed would hold no sway in federal court. Legal experts speculate that more accusers could step forward.
"I can’t see the case of just starting a case like this, doing a search warrant, without going all the way through with it.
There’s no way," Parker asserted.
"They’re not going to just say, ‘OK, forget about it. You go free. We’re not going to bother you anymore.’ Doesn’t work like that."
Another lawsuit, filed on behalf of a Jane Doe, alleges that she was 17 when a longstanding Bad Boy executive and an unidentified "Third Assailant" flew her from Detroit to New York City to meet Combs before drugging her and sexually assaulting her in turns.
Despite the federal investigation, Combs has not been criminally charged and has vehemently denied all accusations.
He has stated that the lawsuit with Ventura was resolved amicably and has dismissed some accusers as seeking "an undeserved payday."