Rapper and singer Sean Kingston and his mother, Janice Turner, have been accused of committing over a million dollars in fraud, involving the theft of money, jewelry, a Cadillac Escalade, and furniture, according to documents released on Friday.
Kingston, 34, and Turner, 61, face charges of organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, identity theft, and related crimes, as stated in arrest warrants from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.
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The arrests occurred on Thursday after a SWAT team raided Kingston’s rented mansion in suburban Fort Lauderdale, where Turner was taken into custody. Kingston was apprehended at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in California’s Mojave Desert, where he was performing.
Known for his 2007 No. 1 hit “Beautiful Girls” and the collaboration with Justin Bieber on “Eenie Meenie,” Kingston is currently held in a California jail, awaiting transfer to Florida.
Robert Rosenblatt, the attorney for Kingston and his mother, expressed that Kingston is willing to return voluntarily, which would “save the state the expense of extradition and the costs of travel for the detectives and Sean.”
Turner is being held on a $160,000 bond at the Broward County jail.
“We look forward to addressing these charges in court and are confident of a successful resolution for Sean and his mother,” Rosenblatt said.
The warrants detail that between October and March, Kingston and Turner allegedly stole nearly $500,000 in jewelry, over $200,000 from Bank of America, $160,000 from the Escalade dealer, over $100,000 from First Republic Bank, $86,000 from a customized bed manufacturer, among other smaller amounts.
Kingston, legally named Kisean Anderson, is already on two years’ probation for trafficking stolen property, though further details on that conviction were not available.
Federal court records show that Turner’s criminal history includes a 2006 bank fraud conviction, for which she served nearly 1.5 years in prison after stealing over $160,000.
The pair have also faced multiple lawsuits. In 2015, they were successfully sued for $356,000 in a New York City federal court for failing to pay for customized watches. In 2018, a New York jeweler won a $301,000 lawsuit against them for scamming the store out of nine items.
More recently, a Florida entertainment systems company sued Kingston in February, alleging he failed to pay $120,000 of a $150,000 bill for a 232-inch television installed in his home. Kingston allegedly claimed that if given a low down payment and credit, he and Bieber would create commercials for the company, which never happened. The company’s attorney stated that Bieber had no involvement and that Kingston had falsely used his name.
