How Sean Combs’ ‘right hand’ woman will be central to sex case

With Sean “Diddy” Combs facing a possible life sentence after being charged with sex trafficking and racketeering, one woman is expected to be at the centre of the music mogul’s case.

Kristina Khorram was appointed Combs’ chief of staff in 2020 and, by his own account, spent years acting as his “right hand”.

While Ms Khorram has not been arrested or charged in the investigation into her boss, or even named in the indictment, she seems certain to play a role in the trial that will follow.

Authorities allege that Combs was able to force women into marathon orgies thanks to a “criminal organisation” of associates who facilitated his so-called “Freak Offs” and prevented them becoming public knowledge afterwards.

They have been tight-lipped about who precisely they believe to be a member of this “enterprise”, beyond the fact that it was said to include Combs’ personal assistants, household and security staff, and “high-level supervisors”.

However, Ms Khorram was named in a civil complaint brought against Combs and others as an alleged “Ghislaine Maxwell” figure who would procure drugs and prostitutes for her boss.

A source close to the investigation told the New York Post: “If anybody is gatekeeper, Kristina would know everything.”

Ms Khorram is reported to have joined Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment as a senior executive in 2013 before moving up to become a director in the office of the chairman at Combs Enterprises. She was appointed Combs’ chief of staff in 2020.

“Kristina aka KK keeps everything in my life and my business running,” Combs wrote in 2021 on Facebook.

“She’s been my right hand for the last eight years and has consistently proven to execute and get s--- done. Don’t know how I’d function without her.”

According to a pending lawsuit brought by Rodney Jones, a music producer known as “Lil Rod”, Ms Khorram’s duties went well beyond what would have been expected of an executive at a global business.

Mr Jones, who sued Combs for $30 million and made allegations including sexual assault and sexual harassment, compared the rapper to Jeffrey Epstein and claimed Ms Khorram was his Ghislaine Maxwell – the socialite who groomed underage girls for the financier to abuse.

Ms Khorram is accused of ordering prostitutes for Combs, while ensuring that he had his “drug of choice immediately ready when he asks for it”.

She allegedly made all members of staff, including Mr Jones, carry cocaine, GHB, ecstasy and marijuana in pouches to feed that drug habit.

In Mr Jones’s characterization of the illegal enterprise in his complaint, she was part of a “Rico enterprise” – referring to a law drawn up in the 1970s with the intention of destroying the Mafia. Among the authorities that used it to target mob bosses was New York’s southern district, which is leading the prosecution of Combs.

Combs’ lawyers poured scorn on Mr Jones’ claims this year, accusing him of inventing a “conspiracy” as cover for a “commercial disagreement”, and moving to get the case dismissed in August. That motion has not yet been decided.

“Mr Jones’s lawsuit is pure fiction – a shameless attempt to create media hype and extract a quick settlement,” Erica Wolff, representing the rapper, said.

“There was no Rico conspiracy and Mr Jones was not threatened, groomed, assaulted, or trafficked.

“We look forward to proving – in a court of law – that all of Mr Jones’s claims are made-up and must be dismissed.”

Authorities have not ruled out bringing charges against Combs’ employees and associates following the rap star’s recent arrest in New York.

“Nothing is off the table,” Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said on Tuesday.

Representatives for Combs declined to comment and efforts to contact Ms Khorram directly were unsuccessful.