Sean “Diddy” Combs is reportedly under criminal investigation by the federal government

An ongoing investigation into allegations of sex trafficking against Sean Combs has reportedly reached a new milestone.

According to sources familiar with the numerous legal battles the media mogul faces, a grand jury in New York is reviewing evidence against Combs as part of a criminal investigation. At the same time, he is also facing another in a series of civil suits brought against him by women who claim he assaulted or trafficked them at the height of his fame.

The allegations against Combs have intensified since last November, when the ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura filed a high-profile lawsuit alleging sexual assault and coercion, domestic violence and other abuse. He settled with Ventura the day after the lawsuit was filed, but denied the allegations. Several lawsuits followed from other women, apparently encouraged by Ventura’s claims. Combs has denied those allegations as well.

The release of surveillance footage that Ventura mentioned in her lawsuit shocked those who believed Combs’ protestations of innocence: A 2016 video showed Combs shoving and punching Ventura as she tried to escape from a hotel room. Combs eventually admitted to the attack in an Instagram video that he has since deleted.

Because of the statute of limitations on criminal charges in California, he cannot be charged for the admitted attack on Ventura, but a raid on his homes by the Department of Homeland Security in March suggested that officials believed Combs might be involved in other illegal activities. Last month, it was reported that federal officials were working to convene a grand jury in Manhattan to review the evidence against Combs, with prosecutors combing through the allegations made in the numerous civil cases against him for useful details.

These prosecutors must now examine another civil case, as numerous media outlets report that a woman named Adriatic English filed suit against Combs on Wednesday, stating that as a former employee of the entrepreneur, she was “incited to engage in sex trafficking over time.”

English, who says she worked at Combs’ annual Labor Day “White Party” at his home in the Hamptons, says the job had no “requirements of physical sexual intercourse and seemed like a legitimate employment opportunity” when she accepted it, but after working at three such events, Combs “required” her to “have vaginal sexual intercourse with guests because they had learned of her past in adult entertainment and forcibly used it to coerce plaintiff into sex work.” (Under the name “Omunique,” English had previously worked in the adult film industry. She says Combs did not hire her for that work.)

Page Six reports that one of the guests she was allegedly trafficked to Jacob Arabowa man once known as the “Jeweler of Hip Hop” due to his relationships with people in the R&B music industry. Arabov, also known as “Jacob the Jeweler,” was arrested in 2008 as part of a federal investigation into a Detroit-area drug ring. He has since been released. (Vanity Fair (Efforts to reach Arabov were unsuccessful at the time of publication.)

“At the end of the evening, Defendant Combs personally congratulated Plaintiff for following his instructions to Defendant Jacob and for doing a good job,” the lawsuit states. At subsequent parties, she was also forced to engage in additional non-consensual acts because she was a victim of Combs’ “ongoing corrupt sex trafficking organization,” her lawsuit states.

Combs’ attorney Jonathan Davis denied the allegations in a statement, saying: “No matter how many lawsuits are filed, it will not change the fact that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone or been a victim of sex trafficking. We live in a world where anyone can file a lawsuit for any reason and without evidence. Fortunately, there is a fair and impartial legal process to find out the truth, and Mr. Combs is confident that he will prevail in court against these and other unsubstantiated allegations.”

But before he goes to civil court, Combs may have to defend himself in criminal court in New York. According to NBC News, Combs’ lawyers “have been informed by federal authorities in the Southern District of New York that he is under criminal investigation.”

A federal grand jury is currently hearing evidence collected by prosecutors and law enforcement as part of an investigation into Combs and his activities, NBC also reported. However, it is unclear whether charges will be filed against Combs in the coming days, as spokespeople for the U.S. Attorney’s Office are on vacation and were not available for comment as of press time.