The rumours that Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs’ vast fortune has been wiped out on his legal defence are unfounded and civil lawsuits against him will be ‘pursued aggressively’, an attorney representing victims has claimed.
Speaking to the Mail’s The Trial of Diddy podcast, Arick Fudali of The Bloom Firm, New York, said it was his ‘understanding’ that the rap mogul still had ‘plenty of cash and assets’ to pay for damages.
Combs, 55, was convicted of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted of the most serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
He will be sentenced on October 3 and faces up to 20 years in prison, though legal analysts predict he will receive much less. Prosecutors are seeking a 4–5-year sentence for Combs.
‘It’s my assumption that Combs still has plenty of cash and assets’, Fudali told the podcast.
‘He can afford to pay his lawyers and to pay out for any judgement that will be brought.
The rumours that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ vast fortune has been wiped out on his legal defence are unfounded, an attorney representing victims has claimed
Arick Fudali of The Bloom Firm, New York, said it was his ‘understanding’ that the rap mogul still had ‘plenty of cash and assets’ to pay for damages
‘We have certainly had circumstances where we have won judgements against millionaires, billionaires and they refuse to cooperate with the collection process.
‘We have to pursue those judgments… we’re certainly equipped to do that. I am not an expert on assets or what sort of funds he actually has, but to pay for whole rows of defence attorneys certainly isn’t cheap.
‘We are moving forward under the assumption that if there is a judgement against Mr Combs, we will be able to collect on it.’
Combs’s legal team have repeatedly tried to have the rap mogul released on bail since the controversial trial verdict.
However, Judge Subramanian has repeatedly blocked these attempts, citing Combs’s history of domestic violence and describing him as an ‘extremely violent man with an extraordinarily dangerous temper.’
Host Brantley asked Fudali whether the Bad Boy Records founder’s current imprisonment would hurt efforts to pursue civil cases against him.
Civil cases have a lower threshold of guilt than criminal ones – whilst Combs was found not guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering during the trial, this means victims could still succeed in pursuing compensation through civil court.
‘Prison is not a deterrent to us’, Fudali said.
‘I am happy to go to any prison he’s housed in and take his deposition there… there’s no real need to wait to get this started.
Fudali said he anticipates Combs will receive a prison sentence for his convictions, despite the work of his legal team
The attorney said he believes the judge would have released Combs if he wasn’t planning to impose prison time
‘Sometimes civil cases will wait till the end of a criminal case to get moving, have like a stay while the case is pending. We’ve chosen not to do that.
‘There will be no waiting, and we will pursue him as quickly as possible.’
Fudali said he anticipates Combs will receive a prison sentence for his convictions, despite the work of his legal team.
Drawing from his experience as a prosecutor, the attorney said he believes the judge would have released Combs if he wasn’t planning to impose prison time.
Fudali said: ‘I am not an expert on prison sentences, although I was a prosecutor a long time ago.
‘What I can say though is that the judge has opined on the fact he is holding Mr Combs pending sentencing and what he’s considered.
‘My understanding is that the judge is considering not just the convictions of prostitution, but everything else he saw… the enormous amounts of violence, the allegations of witness tampering, intimidation.
‘The allegation he blew up a car with a Molotov cocktail. These are very serious, violent, intimidating and aggressive allegations. All that can be considered by a judge.
‘My assumption therefore is that the judge is holding Mr Combs in jail pending a sentence.’
To listen to the full interview with Arick Fudali about the civil suits being pursued against Combs, search for The Trial of Diddy now, wherever you get your podcasts.
