Alleged Streaming Fraudster Taps High-Powered Diddy Law Firm As Discovery Plods Along – Status Conference Rescheduled for August

Still plodding through discovery, the federal fraud case against Michael Smith is now set for an early August status conference. Meanwhile, the alleged royalties scammer has tapped newly minted Diddy law firm Harris Trzaskoma LLP for representation.

Technically, two of that firm’s attorneys, Justine Harris and Anna Estevao, started repping Smith shortly after his indictment last year. But in early May 2025, Harris and Estevao notified the court that they’d officially signed on with Harris Trzaskoma.

About one week later, the self-described “Manhattan-based litigation boutique” put out a press release celebrating its formal launch. Counting as partners Harris, Estevao, Theresa Trzaskoma, and Allegra Noonan, the firm is said to rep “clients in a wide range of high-profile commercial and white collar matters.”

One of those clients happens to be Diddy, Harris Trzaskoma underscored in a May 15th release. “Partner Anna Estevao is among the nationally celebrated criminal defense lawyers Sean Combs tapped to defend him in his high-profile federal criminal case in the Southern District of New York,” the firm emphasized.

Despite this noteworthy link between two of the industry’s biggest criminal cases, the connection has received negligible coverage thus far. Also flying under the music-media radar is the precise status of the fraud claims against Smith.

As initially mentioned, continued discovery delays mean we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the case to kick into high gear.

Previously, a status conference was expected to take place on June 5th. But earlier this week, with the government joining in the request, Smith attorneys sought an adjournment. Judge John G. Koeltl then rescheduled for August 5th.

“As the Court knows, discovery in this matter has been voluminous,” Smith’s counsel wrote when seeking the conference delay. “Over 5.5 million files have been produced to date, and the Government anticipates producing any remaining discovery within the next month. The adjournment is needed because Mr. Smith needs additional time to review this discovery, as well as make decisions about potential motion practice.”

Upon requesting a 60-day adjournment of the same status conference – scheduled at the time for March – Smith’s legal team pointed to 2.84 terabytes’ worth of government productions. In other words, there are quite a few moving parts in play.

That won’t exactly come as a surprise to those who have been following the case and are familiar with the streaming space’s complexities.

Facing possible decades behind bars, Smith is accused of pumping out hundreds of thousands of AI tracks (with the help of co-conspirators – more on this later), creating thousands of streaming accounts, and then directing a multitude of bot plays to the appropriate works.

Pressing questions remain about which platform(s) paid out the over $10 million in allegedly fraudulent royalties – and how the scheme managed to fly under the radar for years. Additionally, who’s to say similar stateside royalty scams aren’t in full swing right now?

As things stand, the music world is heavy on intrigue and light on answers. But stay tuned – DMN has teed up a series of updates exploring heretofore uncharted angles of the case and streaming fraud itself.