Sean “Diddy" Combs was arrested late on Monday in New York, where he faces a sealed criminal indictment, prosecutors said.

Details of the charges weren't immediately announced by prosecutors, but the hip-hop mogul has faced a stream of allegations by women in recent months who accused him of sexual assault.

The US attorney in Manhattan, Damian Williams, said in a statement that federal agents arrested Combs.

“We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.”

Combs' lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said “We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the US Attorney’s Office.”

He added that Combs had gone to New York last week in anticipation of the charges being brought.

Criminal charges would be a major but not unexpected takedown of one of the most prominent producers and most famous names in the history of hip-hop.

The federal investigation of the 58-year-old Combs was revealed when federal agents served simultaneous search warrants and raided Combs' mansions in Los Angeles and Miami on March 25.

Combs, then known as Puff Daddy, was at the centre of the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop battles of the 1990s as the partner and producer of the Notorious B.I.G., who was shot and killed in 1997.

But like many of those who survived the era, his public image had softened with age into a genteel host of parties in Hollywood and the Hamptons, a fashion-forward businessman, and a doting father who spoiled his kids.

But a different image began emerging last year in November, when his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, became the first of several people to sue him for sexual abuse with stories of a steady stream of sex workers in drug-fuelled settings where some of those involved were coerced or cajoled into sex.

In her lawsuit, Cassie alleged years of abuse, including beatings and rape.

Her suit also alleged Combs engaged in sex trafficking by “requiring her to engage in forced sexual acts in multiple jurisdictions” and by engaging in “harbouring and transportation of Plaintiff for purposes of sex induced by force, fraud, or coercion.”

It also said he compelled her to help him traffic male sex workers Combs would force Cassie to have sex with while he filmed.

The suit was settled settled the following day, but its reverberations would last far longer.

Combs lost lingering allies, supporters and those reserving judgement when CNN in May aired a leaked video of him punching Cassie, kicking her and throwing her on the floor in a hotel hallway.

In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.

Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17.

Another woman who filed a lawsuit, April Lampos, said she was a college student in 1994 when she met Combs and a series of “terrifying sexual encounters” with Combs and those around him began that lasted for years.

Combs and his attorneys denied nearly all of the lawsuits’ allegations.

As the founder of Bad Boy Records, Combs became one of the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades, along with the Notorious B.I.G., he worked with a slew of top-tier artists including Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.

Combs’ roles in his businesses beyond music — including lucrative private-label spirits, a media company and the Sean John Fashion line — took major hits when the allegations arose. (AP)