KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Rap mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is trying for the third time to secure a pre-trial release after being behind bars for three weeks.

His legal team have filed a third appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, reported Page Six.

The appeal challenges the decision made by the Southern District of New York to deny Combs bail twice.

The Bad Boy Records founder, 54, was arrested last month on charges of racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution.

He pleaded not guilty and remains in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, awaiting his trial.

Prosecutors warned of Combs intimidating witnesses and obstructing the case if he were to be let out of jail; also suggesting he was a flight risk given his wealth and access to private jets.

Combs was willing to pay up to US$50 million (RM214 million) as bond, offering his US$48 million (RM205 million) Miami mansion as well as his mother’s home as collateral.

He also agreed to home detention with GPS monitoring, promised to limit his travel to Miami and New York, and claimed he would sell his private plane, which is reportedly stationed in Los Angeles. Combs has already surrendered his passport.

The ‘package’ also includes barring access to internet or phones, 24/7 supervision, no female visitors except family and the mothers of his children, and weekly drug testing.

The defence also argued in its appeal that the government has failed to provide clear and convincing evidence that Combs poses a danger to the community or has engaged in witness tampering, calling the claims "vague” and "speculative” and insisted that the district court made a legal error by ruling "without fact-finding or analysis.”

According to the indictment, federal agents discovered more than 1,000 bottles of lubricant, various narcotics and three AR-15s when they raided his LA and Miami mansions in March.

Prosecutors claimed the father of seven "abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct” for decades, "creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in ... sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.”

Per the indictment, Combs and members of his Combs Enterprise allegedly facilitated multiple "Freak Offs”: drug-fueled sex gatherings.

During these events, he allegedly "hit, kicked, threw objects at and dragged victims, at times, by their hair,” according to the indictment, which further claimed that he "subjected victims to physical, emotional and verbal abuse to cause the victims to engage in Freak Offs,” which he "often electronically recorded.”

The alleged assaults "often resulted in injuries that took days or weeks to heal,” per prosecutors.

If convicted, Combs faces a minimum of 15 years in prison.