NEW YORK (WABC) — Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with aiding and abetting criminal activity, allegedly operating a business involving sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson and other crimes.

He is also accused of human trafficking by force and transportation for the purpose of prostitution.

The music mogul was arrested in Manhattan on Monday night, about six months after federal authorities raided his lavish homes in Los Angeles and Miami as they conducted a sex trafficking investigation.

The indictment detailing the charges was made public Tuesday morning. According to the indictment, Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”

Combs, 54, relied on the employees, resources and influence of his multifaceted business empire to “establish and attempt to establish a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, among other things, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice,” the indictment said.

Diddy is alleged to have controlled women by administering drugs, withholding financial support and using violence, allegations consistent with 11 civil complaints filed against him since 2023.

Combs “knew this was coming,” his attorney said Tuesday as he entered federal court.

“We brought him to New York two weeks ago because we knew this day would come, and now he’s here,” said attorney Marc Agnifilo.

Diddy’s spirits are good, Agnifilo said. “He’s handling this head like he’s handling every challenge in his life.”

Over the past year, Combs has been sued by people who claim he physically or sexually abused them. He has denied many of the allegations, and Agnifilo called the new suit an “unjust prosecution.”

“He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal,” Agnifilo said in a statement Monday night.

The attorney said Combs voluntarily moved to New York two weeks ago to await charges. He said they planned to surrender to federal prosecutors before Combs was arrested outside the Park Hyatt hotel in Midtown.

Agnifilo said he “will fight like the devil to get him out on bail” and “that he should be released with all he has done and that he came here voluntarily.”

“He is tackling this issue head-on, just as he deals with all challenges in his life,” Agnifilo said.

Federal prosecutors want Diddy to remain in federal custody while he awaits trial, arguing that “no condition, or combination of conditions, could reasonably ensure the defendant’s required appearance and the safety of others and the community, much less the integrity of the proceedings.”

In a letter to the judge, prosecutors called Diddy “dangerous” and said he poses an ongoing threat to the safety of the community.

Combs was considered one of the most influential figures in hip-hop until a flood of allegations over the past year made him a pariah in the hip-hop industry.

In November his ex-girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit alleging that he beat and raped her for years. She accused Combs of forcing her and others to have unwanted sex in drug-fueled settings.

The lawsuit was settled in a day, but months later CNN aired footage from hotel security showing Combs punching, kicking and throwing Cassie to the ground. After the video aired, Combs apologized, saying, “I was disgusted when I did it.”

However, Combs and his attorneys denied similar allegations made by others in a series of lawsuits.

Douglas Wigdor, Cassie’s attorney, said in a statement Tuesday that “neither Ms. Ventura nor I have any comment.”

“We appreciate your understanding and if that changes, we will certainly let you know,” he added.

One woman said Combs raped her two decades ago when she was 17. A music producer filed a lawsuit, saying Combs forced him to have sex with prostitutes. Another woman, April Lampros, said Combs subjected her to “terrifying sexual encounters,” beginning when she was a college student in 1994.

Normally, the AP does not name people who say they were sexually abused unless they report it publicly, as Cassie and Lampros did.

Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has gotten out of legal trouble before.

In 2001, he was acquitted of charges related to a shooting at a Manhattan nightclub two years earlier, in which three people were injured. His then-protégé, Shyne, was convicted of assault and other charges and served about eight years in prison.

(ABC News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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