Latest / The Demia Avery Show / Bad Boy CFO Testifies: $20K Wire Sent to Diddy Revealed in Court #diddytrial

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Bad Boy CFO Testifies: $20K Wire Sent to Diddy Revealed in Court #diddytrial · The Demia Avery Show

• 0:01
  Hey, hey everybody. This is Deia Avery
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  of the Demia Avery Show. So, this is
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  part two of my series of videos. If you
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  haven't seen the one with the security
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  guard Eddie Garcia, make sure you go
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  back to my previous video. And that's
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  what happened today at the Diddy Trial.
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  U next we have uh Derek Ferguson. And
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  Derek Ferguson was the s I'm sorry, the
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  CFO of Bad Boy. So, here we go with his
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  testimony.
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  Um, so it says Ferguson said he is
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  testifying in compliance with a
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  subpoena. So basically he didn't want to
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  be up there, but he was subpoenaed to be
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  there. He said he worked for Combmes and
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  his companies from 1998
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  until
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  2017. Ferguson added that he was the CFO
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  at Bad Boy Entertainment from 1998 to
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  2012.
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  He said his responsibilities included
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  setting budgets, accounting and
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  recordkeeping, as well as being involved
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  in some joint ventures and strategic
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  partnerships. Ferguson also said during
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  different periods of the time, Col's
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  personal finances would also be a part
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  of his
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  responsibility. Um it goes on to say
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  when Ferguson the um when he first
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  started at the company he said he
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  interacted with Diddy pretty regularly a
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  couple of times a week as more
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  professional management was brought in
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  to run the company. Ferguson said his
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  interactions with Combmes became less
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  frequent. Ferguson said that at certain
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  points during his tenure, he reported to
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  the company president. when there was no
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  president, he reported reported directly
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  to
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  Combmes. It goes on to say that Derek
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  Ferguson said he and Diddy Combmes were
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  the signitories on business bank
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  accounts during his tenure with Combmes
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  companies.
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  Um, it goes on to say that Derek
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  Ferguson said most senior executives at
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  Bad Boy had American Express corporate
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  cards, including Combmes. Ferguson
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  testified that Comolmes would charge
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  business and personal expenses on his
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  card from time to time. He said members
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  of his teams would determine which
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  business or entity a charge pertained to
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  and then use the business's account to
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  pay off that charge.
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  Ferguson um goes on to say that cash
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  payments were an industry norm 20 years
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  ago. He said it was not uncommon,
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  especially during his early years
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  working for Combmes, that performers
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  would be paid in cash and a performer's
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  manager would at times bring cash to the
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  finance department to be processed.
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  Uh Derek Ferguson, the CFO officer uh
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  for Diddy, said he was not aware that
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  Diddy Security carried cash for him,
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  saying it was not something I paid any
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  attention to. During his tenure, he said
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  there were periods when third parties
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  were engaged to handle Comb's personal
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  finances and other items. It was
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  internally managed. Ferguson said the
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  finance department managed the finances
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  for Combmes properties that he owned in
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  Miami, the Hamptons, and New York City.
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  Ferguson also confirmed that he knew
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  Combmes would provide financial support
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  to family and friends through his
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  personal salaries and distributions.
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  Ferguson said he'd sit down with Combmes
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  at least once a year to re his personal
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  finances. Next, and what happened, guys?
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  The jury saw 2011 bank statements for
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  Shaun Diddy Combmes bank account for his
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  Alpine, New Jersey home. On December
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  14th, the record shows the account
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  transferred $20,000 to Cassandra Ventur.
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  On December 23rd, the record shows an
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  incoming wire transfer from Brderick
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  Ventur uh Cassy's father for
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  $20,000. On December 27th, Col's account
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  returned the $20,000 to Ventur's
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  father's account. So, that's all that
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  stuff that Cassie was talking about how
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  he had asked
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  um them to pay him $20,000 so she
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  wouldn't so he wouldn't release photos
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  of her. Um and they paid him $20,000.
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  All that stuff that you guys know about.
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  Okay. So, it goes on to say Derek
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  Ferguson said he served as CFO until the
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  end of 2012, then worked as chief growth
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  officer for a few years before becoming
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  CEO uh chief operating officer of Revolt
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  Media and TV. He said he didn't speak
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  with Diddy often after leaving his
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  employment in November
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  2017, except for some odds and ends
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  related to his departure and
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  occasionally reaching out on holidays.
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  Combmes last reached out to Ferguson on
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  September 16th,
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  2024. Um, Ferguson said Combmes text to
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  say hello and asked him to give him a
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  call. He said Combmes sent another text
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  shortly after saying he was in New York
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  and wanted to see if Ferguson had time
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  to get together because he wanted to
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  talk and get some advice. Ferguson said
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  he was on a flight to Charlotte when he
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  received a text, so he wasn't able to
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  meet. He said he did not respond to the
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  message. Somebody find out if September
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  16th was a time around the time that
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  Diddy got arrested cuz that would
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  uh be interesting to know if he was
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  trying to contact him around that time.
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  Anyway, the uh defense is now
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  cross-examining. Uh Ferguson said he
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  initially was interested in working for
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  Bad Boy Records because he thought the
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  company would have a lot of impact.
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  Coming from the Bronx, I felt like we
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  needed more companies that really would
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  hire for the communities I grew up in
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  that would give people opportunities, he
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  testified. Uh, defense attorney Mark
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  Agnafilio has asked Derek Ferguson
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  general questions about Diddy's
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  businesses. He asked the former chief
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  financial officer about Combmes
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  long-term relationships with Diego for
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  liquor products. Combmes mainly oversaw
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  the creative direction and Diego, one of
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  the world's biggest drink makers
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  providing funding, Ferguson said. When
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  asked, Ferguson said there were ongoing
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  tensions between Combmes and Diego, I
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  hope I'm pronouncing that right, Dagio
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  Dagio over the marketing and
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  distribution of the products because
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  they felt the distribution was
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  concentrated in urban areas. Defense
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  attorney Mark Agnafilio asked Derek
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  Ferguson
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  um to confirm that personal assistance
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  were common in the industry. Ferguson
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  agreed, saying their their titles may
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  have varied, but Combmes and the other
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  executives at his companies had
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  assistance paid for by the company.
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  Ferguson also confirmed that comp that
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  Combmes security personnel were paid
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  through the company for his personal
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  safety. Ferguson
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  um said that company taxes were always
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  done correctly. You would never let
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  there be financial impropriy on your
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  watch in that company. Am I right?
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  Defense attorney asked. I would do
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  everything I could to not let that
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  happen. Ferguson responded. Derek
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  Ferguson
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  [Music]
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  um head of finance testified that he
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  never witnessed anyone help Combmes
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  commit crimes, nor did he witness acts
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  of violence. Did you see anyone help
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  Shawn Combmes commit crimes? Defense
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  attorney Mark Agnafilio asked. "No,"
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  Ferguson responded. "Did you see anyone
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  commit acts of violence?" Agnafilio
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  asked. "No," Ferguson said. "Did you see
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  anyone make the company stronger through
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  threats and violence?" Agnafilio asked.
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  Ferguson says,
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  "No." Agnilio asked Derek Ferguson, "Did
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  you see anyone enhance Mr. Comb's
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  reputation or the reputation of the
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  business through acts of prostitution?"
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  You know what I'm saying? No, Ferguson
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  said. Agnafilio also asked, "Did you see
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  anyone enhance Mr. Comb's reputation or
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  the reputation of the business through
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  SMMEX trafficking or forced labor?" Uh,
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  the judge sustain an objection from the
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  government to that
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  question. Uh, we're almost finished,
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  guys.
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  Um, former CFO Derek Ferguson testified
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  that working with Diddy was hard work
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  since they were building businesses from
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  scratch. He recalled working long hours
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  with lots of talented people. We all
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  felt that there was a mission to be
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  great, to represent ourselves in a
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  certain way, Ferguson said. He said,
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  "Come employees were a very close-knit
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  group, especially in the beginning. The
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  defense attorney Agnafilio asked
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  Ferguson what he learned from Combmes. I
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  did learn a lot from him. He had great
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  business mind and I think he put his
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  mind to something and set a really high
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  aggressive goal and was not afraid of
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  that goal. And I think that's something
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  you can learn from that. He just worked
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  constantly. Ferguson said his passion
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  for what he did was really high. So the
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  work ethic and number of the hours that
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  he put in something that really pushed
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  the entire team. So that's what was said
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  today, guys. I'm not sure if he's coming
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  back tomorrow, but we'll see. Talk to
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  you later. Bye bye.