mogul

DISGRACED rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has received glowing handwritten testimonials from his fellow inmates.

The letters paint him as a positive force inside Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, despite the serious convictions hanging over him.

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The 55-year-old, awaiting sentencing next month, has reportedly been running a weekly session called “Free Game with Diddy.”

Inmates say it covers everything from entrepreneurship to health advice, while also giving them a chance to “pick his brain” about fame and money.

Douglas Welch, 42, told Judge Arun Subramanian that Combs “brings love into the Unit” and claimed the class pushed him to go “harder at my health journey.”

He wrote: “Sean Combs brings love into the unit.

“I know because since he’s been here all the Spanish and black inmates cook and pray together, workout together too…

“Since he started his class I’ve been going harder at my health journey.”

Another inmate, Quinton Davis, said the sessions included “business Management, entrepreneurship and life skills,” adding that Combs had even encouraged the group to use “AI and Chat GPT.”

“It’s a key factor and inside scoop on how Mr. Combs started from nothing and became the icon-business mogul he is today,” Davis explained.

“I also learned how to research things better by using AI and Chat GPT.”

A third prisoner insisted the rapper “brings joy and happiness to the atmosphere in the unit” and alleged that “everybody in the unit is treating and acting positively towards each other” since his arrival.

“Because of Mr Combs everybody in the unit is treating and acting positively towards each other,” the letter said.

“Mr Combs cares very much for everyone in here, doesn’t matter what race or age and he is making it his business to do his best to make an impact.”

An official evaluation form dated June 10 backs up those glowing reports.

The “Work Performance Rating – Inmate” document identifies Combs as a tutor in Unit C-B, with a handwritten note praising: “Excellent class. Keep up the great work!!!”

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The case against Combs

Combs has been jailed at MDC since his September 2024 arrest.

He was acquitted in July of headline-grabbing charges including sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

But he was convicted on two counts of violating the Mann Act after prosecutors said he arranged travel for women and escorts across state lines for alleged drug-fuelled “freak-offs.”

Sentencing is scheduled for October 3, 2025.

His lawyers last week filed a 380-page plea asking Judge Subramanian to impose no more than 14 months, which would mean immediate release after time served.

They cited what they described as “inhumane” jail conditions, his childhood trauma, and claimed progress in battling substance abuse.

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Over 100 letters from family and associates were also submitted, attempting to portray him as rehabilitated.

Prosecutors are expected to argue for a far stiffer punishment — reportedly four to five years — and continue to highlight allegations of violence and coercion against ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and another woman known as “Jane.”

On top of the looming sentencing, Combs is fighting multiple civil lawsuits and reputational fallout from years of abuse and exploitation claims.

For now, though, the inmates sharing his unit have presented a strikingly different picture to the judge — one of a man they say “changes the vibe” in prison.

When billionaire casino mogul and top Republican donor Steve Wynn was accused of a decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct in the midst of the #MeToo movement, elected officials across the country quickly distanced themselves from him.

The news broke in January 2018, and some Republicans immediately called on their colleagues to return donations from Wynn, who was accused of pressuring employees to perform sex acts.

Sen. Susan Collins told CNN, “I don’t even think it’s a close call to return the money.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham also chimed in: “We should do of ourselves what we ask of the Democratic Party. So I don’t think we should have a double standard for ourselves.”

Within months, Wynn started to donate again, and by 2020, he was once again a major GOP donor, giving millions of dollars to conservative super PACs, President Trump’s reelection campaign, candidates and state Republican parties across the nation.

This year, Wynn gave more than three-quarters of a million dollars to a joint fundraising committee aimed at helping Republicans retake control of the U.S. House of Representatives, and that group gave donations to dozens of incumbents across the country, including nearly every member of California’s Republican delegation to Congress.

The recipients include Reps. Mike Garcia of Santa Clarita and David Valadao of Hanford, whose seats will be hotly contested in next year’s midterm elections because they are key to GOP hopes to retake control of the House.

Elections experts said Wynn’s reemergence in the political arena and the candidates’ willingness to take his money were unsurprising, and unlikely to move voters.

“In politics in general, I think the hope of people who have been accused of wrongdoing is that we’re all amnesiacs. And eight times out of 10 we are,” said Jessica Levinson, an election law professor at Loyola Law School. “Republicans in tight races — very few people are going to vote against them because they got money from a PAC that got money from Steve Wynn.

“At this point, because we’re not in that cycle of breaking news about Steve Wynn, I think it’s probably a pretty reasonable calculation, one, because time has faded and two, because it’s not a direct contribution.”

Wynn donated $771,900 — the maximum allowed — to the Take Back the House 2022 joint fundraising committee on March 26, according to the Federal Election Commission. From that day through the end of the month, the committee, which is controlled by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, sent $5,800 max-out donations to more than 40 members of Congress, with FEC documentation citing Wynn as the source of the money.

The California Republicans who received these donations are Reps. Devin Nunes of Tulare, Darrell Issa of Bonsall, Doug LaMalfa of Richvale, Tom McClintock of Elk Grove, Michelle Steel of Seal Beach, Valadao, Garcia and McCarthy. Rep. Young Kim of La Habra also received a donation from Take Back the House 2022 on March 31, but her FEC filing does not identify the donor.

McCarthy was the only one to respond to requests for comment.

Asked about the new donations, McCarthy said in a statement, “Steve Wynn is one of the great innovators in the history of modern capitalism. I thank him for his continued support, and I look forward to working with him to retake the House Majority.”

In 2018, McCarthy reportedly gave a Wynn contribution to charity in the aftermath of the sexual misconduct allegations.

Three years ago, a Wall Street Journal investigation found that Wynn had engaged in sexual misconduct for decades. Among the cases cited was one by a casino hotel manicurist who claimed Wynn forced her to have sex with him and who received a $7.5-million settlement, the Journal reported.

Wynn, now 79, responded to the investigation by denying that he had ever assaulted any woman and by blaming his ex-wife for airing the allegations as she sought to revise their divorce settlement.

Though Wynn was never charged criminally, the fallout was severe. He resigned as the head of his namesake company. Gambling regulators in Nevada and Massachusetts fined Wynn Resorts tens of millions of dollars for its executives covering up or ignoring Wynn’s alleged behavior. Wynn agreed to pay Wynn Resorts $20 million to partly settle shareholder lawsuits against the company.

Wynn, who previously had supported Democrats including President Obama, stepped down as finance chair of the Republican National Committee. His name was stripped off a commons at the University of Pennsylvania, his alma mater where he once served as a trustee.

Among the politicians who returned or donated Wynn contributions were Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona, Rob Portman of Ohio, Dean Heller of Nevada, Tim Scott of South Carolina, and then-House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

McCarthy is in line to take the speaker’s gavel if Republicans win control of the House next year. His Take Back the House 2022 is a joint fundraising committee of 59 members of Congress and 20 other political committees that raised nearly $22 million in the first quarter of this year, according to the Federal Election Commission. Wynn was one of 11 people who maxed out to the committee.

Wynn’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment, but he told the Associated Press that Wynn “has the same rights and entitlements as any other private citizen in the United States of America.”

Four of the Californians who received donations from the PAC — Garcia, Valadao, Steel and Kim — are among the 22 incumbent Republicans targeted by Democrats in the 2022 election. The four seats are in traditional Republican strongholds but their demographics are changing. Mirroring a national trend, these suburban districts have grown increasingly competitive as their residents have grown more diverse. Democrats won the four seats during the blue wave in 2018; Republicans flipped them back last year.

An added uncertainty is redistricting because California lost a congressional seat based on the latest census report. Garcia’s northern Los Angeles County seat, which he won by 333 votes in November, may shift closer to Los Angeles when the redistricting commission redraws the maps, a move that would make it more Democratic.

Aug. 18 (UPI) — A court in Hong Kong resumed closing arguments in the criminal trial of media mogul Jimmy Lai on charges of sedition and collusion with foreign powers.

The trial had paused Friday because Lai, 77, was having heart issues. Lai was given medication and a Holter monitor, which tracks the heart’s electrical activity. The trial had also been delayed Thursday because of torrential rain in the city.

Judge Esther Toh said extra breaks could be allowed for Lai if needed.

Lai, a citizen of the United Kingdom, founded Apple Daily, a Chinese-language newspaper published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. The tabloid has been described as anti-government, pro-democracy and anti-China.

He is accused of collusion with foreign forces and sedition. He has been in solitary confinement since December 2020. He faces life in prison.

Prosecutors have accused Lai of requesting foreign countries to engage in “hostile activities,” such as imposing sanctions, against authorities in Hong Kong and mainland China.

He allegedly conspired with senior editorial staff of Apple Daily and was the “mastermind and financial supporter” of the Fight for Freedom; Stand with Hong Kong advocacy group, which lobbied for international sanctions against Hong Kong and China.

Lai denied in court that he had ever sought to influence the Hong Kong policies of other countries via his high-level contacts overseas, including former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.

Questioned about meetings with Pence and then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2019, Lai said the meeting with Pence was more of a briefing where he updated him and answered questions about what was going on in Hong Kong

Lai, who was noticeably thinner Monday than when the trial began in late 2023, was dressed in a white jacket in the glass dock and pressed his palms together in a prayer gesture several times to his family and supporters, the Independent reported.

The prosecutor discussed the security law concerning the collusion charges, arguing that the request to impose sanctions must include officials and not just states.

He planned to lay out other issues in the afternoon and make his closing statement on Tuesday.

Lai is among hundreds of people who have been detained and charged under the controversial National Security Law, which critics say have silenced dissent in Hong Kong. Beijing justifies that the law is needed to maintain stability in the city.

Cryptocurrency entrepreneur faces up to 25 years in prison over the $40bn collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna tokens.

South Korean cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon has pleaded guilty to fraud in the United States in a case tied to the $40bn collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna tokens.

Kwon, the cofounder of Singapore-based Terraform Labs, entered the plea at the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, according to court filings.

Kwon admitted to one count of conspiring to commit commodities fraud, securities fraud and wire fraud, and one count of committing wire fraud.

As part of his plea, the crypto entrepreneur agreed to forfeit more than $19m in proceeds from his crimes, according to prosecutors.

Kwon had in January entered a plea of not guilty to nine counts in the case, including securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.

“Do Kwon used the technological promise and investment euphoria around cryptocurrency to commit one of the largest frauds in history,” US Attorney Jay Clayton said.

“Kwon attracted tens of billions in funds to Terraform’s ecosystem by promising a self-stabilising stablecoin. By the time the markets discovered the ecosystem was unstable, it was too late: the system collapsed, and investors around the world suffered billions in losses.”

Kwon, who is due to be sentenced on December 11, faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.

Kwon was extradited to the US in December 2024, following his arrest in Montenegro after spending months on the run from authorities.

Media mogul Byron Allen has reached a deal to sell 10 television stations for $171 million to Atlanta-based Gray Media.

Gray and Allen Media Group announced the agreement Friday.

Allen’s stations in Huntsville, Ala.; Montgomery, Ala.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Lafayette, La.; and Paducah, Ky.; were part of the transaction. Each station has affiliations with one of the Big Four broadcast networks: ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS.

The move furthers Allen’s retrenchment after a $1-billion buying spree in recent years. Allen had a goal of becoming the largest independent television operator in the U.S. But the build-up — which came during an increasingly challenging period for broadcast TV — left the Los Angeles-based company burdened with debt.

This spring, Allen Media Group hired investment banking firm Moelis & Co. to sell his network-affiliate television stations.

Allen Media Group, which was founded by Allen in 1993, continues to own television stations and channels, including Pets.TV, Comedy.TV and Cars.TV, entertainment studios and the Weather Channel.

The Los Angeles entrepreneur and former stand-up comedian had been steadily expanding his empire for more than a decade.

With the purchase of Allen’s stations, Gray moves into three new television markets: Tupelo, Miss.; Terre Haute, Ind.; and West Lafayette, Ind.

Gray owns a second station in several of the other locations. The company said in a statement that the combination, known in the industry as a “duopoly,” will allow it to provide “expanded local news, local weather, and local sports programming.”

The deal, which requires the approval of the Federal Communications Commission, should be complete by year’s end, the companies said.