On Thursday Sean Kingston was arrested in California on fraud and theft charges after a SWAT team raided his South Florida mansion and arrested his mother.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Thursday night that Kingston, 34, was arrested in Fort Irwin, California, on a Florida warrant for “numerous fraud and theft charges.” He will be booked into jail in San Bernardino, California.
His mum, Turner,, also faces numerous fraud and theft charges. She’s being held in Broward’s main jail on a $160,000 bond.
Earlier in the day, Kingston’s 61-year-old mother, Janice Turner, was taken into custody during the raid of the rapper’s mansion, which he rents in Southwest Ranches. Authorities were seen loading a can with goods. Turner also faces numerous fraud and theft charges. She’s being held at the Broward jail Thursday night on $160,000 bond.
According to an attorney, there was a lawsuit filed against Kingston in February accusing Kingston of defrauding a Florida company that installed in his home a 232-inch television that he never paid for. Kingston was seen posing in front of the TV in a picture.
“He likes having bling, he likes showing off, he’s a showman,” attorney Dennis Card said. “My client has a $150,000 television sound system that’s in there, there’s also about $1 million worth of watches that are in there, there’s a $80,000 custom bed that was ordered. This is an organized systematic fraud.”
Kingston, 34, had some major hits including his 2007 debut single “Beautiful Girls.” He’s previously collaborated with Bieber and Soulja Boy. According to the lawsuit, Kingston no longer has a working relationship with Bieber, who recently dropped his longtime manager.
“He’s got basically a script, he says that he works with Justin Bieber, and that he obviously puts on a big show here, this is a rental house, he doesn’t own it, and he lures people using his celebrity into having them release things without him paying for it and then he simply never pays,” Card said.
“He’s 100 percent a scammer, he’s on felony probation right now for trafficking in stolen property, he’s got judgements against him for procuring more than $1 million in watches without paying for them,” Card said. “This is just an ongoing pattern for Sean.”
Card said the singer’s mom is a part of Kingston’s alleged actions.
“She’s complicit in it, she knows what’s going on,” he said.
Kingston posted on Instagram earlier Thursday after news of the raid broke.
“People love negative energy! I am good and so is my mother!.. my lawyers are handling everything as we speak,” the post read.
