Rapper Sean Kingston was arrested during a concert at a US Army base in California on Thursday, hours after a SWAT team raided his rented mansion in Florida. Kingston, real name Kisean Anderson, surrendered to police without incident and has reportedly been charged with fraud and grand theft alongside his mother, who was taken into custody during the Florida raid.
According to the Broward Sherriff’s Office, Kingston’s mother, 61-year-old Janice Turner, was apprehended at the rapper’s 14,000-square-foot rental property in Southwest Ranches, an affluent neighborhood outside of Fort Lauderdale. After placing Turner under arrest, police were seen filling U-Haul trucks with items from inside the house and towing away at least one of the expensive sports cars parked outside.
At the time, investigators declined to comment about the nature of the charges and did not indicate whether Kingston would also be arrested.
Meanwhile, in California, the rapper was slated to perform at the Fort Irwin Army Base 150 miles northeast of Los Angeles. During his set, law enforcement arrived at the venue and placed Kingston under arrest, and he was later booked into a San Bernadino jail. He now faces extradition to Florida on the same warrant served against his mother.
Learn the benefits of becoming a Valuetainment Member and subscribe today!
According to details of the warrant released on Friday, Kingston and Turner are accused of defrauding a tech company out of a massive TV and speaker system worth an estimated $111,000. The company, identified in a fraud lawsuit filed in February as Ver Ver Entertainment LLC, claims that the mother-son duo was given the 232-inch TV and accompanying sound equipment at a discounted rate after promising to make a promotional video about the company alongside Kingston’s friend and musical collaborator Justin Bieber.
However, the company claims that Kingston had no plans to follow through on this promise, nor any plans to work with Bieber on a project in the immediate future. After an initial payment of $30,000, he failed to make an agreed-upon second payment and never submitted a promotional video.
Other portions of the warrant charge Kingston and Turner with similar crimes between October 2023 and March 2024, making off with items including $400,000 in jewelry, $80,000 in furniture, and a Cadillac Escalade.
Broward County records indicate that Kingston is already on probation for a 2020 charge of trafficking in stolen property.
In total, Kingston now faces one count of organized scheme to defraud over $50,000, four counts of criminal use of personal identification information, three counts of grand theft, two of them worth over $100,000, one count of making an insufficient funds check for over $150, and one count of violating his probation.
His mother faces similar charges: one count of organized scheme to defraud over $50,000, three counts of criminal use of personal identification information, three counts of grand theft, two of them worth over $100,000, and one count of making an insufficient funds check for over $150.
Family attorney Robert Rosenblatt, who is representing both defendants, says that the process of extraditing Kingston from California will take up to two weeks. Meanwhile, Turner will remain in jail in Florida until prosecutors can assess the legitimacy of her $160,000 bond.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
Got a hot scoop or an idea for a story? Connect with the VT writers on Minnect!
Add comment