A man suing US rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs over alleged sexual assault has won $100m (£76.6m) by default after Combs failed to respond.
Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, 51, accused Combs of drugging and sexually assaulting him at a party in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997. these accusations.
Cardero-Smith is a convicted felon currently serving time in prison and is known for his protracted civil lawsuits, a local newspaper reported.
Combs’ lawyer said Cardero-Smith “committed fraud in court” and told the BBC the rapper would fight the ruling.
When people do not respond to lawsuits, courts enter default judgments against them.
Coombs and his lawyers told the BBC they were unaware of the lawsuit because Coombs had not received proper notice that they would seek to vacate Monday’s judgment.
The lawsuit is one of a series of recent sexual assault accusations filed against Combs, one of the most successful moguls in rap music history.
Lenawee County Circuit Court Judge Anna Marie Anzalone presented the award to Cardero-Smith on Monday after Combs failed to attend a Sept. 9 hearing on the lawsuit.
According to local newspaper the Detroit Metro Times, Cardero-Smith came into contact with Combs while working in Detroit’s restaurant and hospitality industry in the 1990s.
He told the court Coombs recently offered him $2.3 million to drop the lawsuit, but he rejected the offer. He also said he still knows Combs and produced documents showing Combs’ name in jail visitation logs.
Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, denied in a statement to the BBC that the rapper knew Cardro-Smith.
Court documents show Cardero-Smith is serving time for convictions unrelated to sexual misconduct and kidnapping.
The Detroit Metro Times reported that he taught himself criminal and civil law in prison and developed “a long history of challenging the justice system” by filing numerous lawsuits.
Others have sued Combs for sexual and physical abuse, including his longtime partner, Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura.
Combs paid Ventura an undisclosed amount and eventually settled the matter out of court.
The rapper has repeatedly denied the accusations but later apologized after CCTV footage was released in May 2016 showing Combs throwing and kicking Ventura in a hotel hallway.
In March, federal agents raided two homes owned by the star as “part of an ongoing investigation” into sex trafficking.
At the time, Coombs’ attorney called the raid an “unprecedented ambush” and said his client was innocent.
