- Rapper and his mother alleged to have committed $1 million worth of fraud
- Kingston was arrested in May after a SWAT team raided his mansion
- Lawyer representing the pair has previously spoken of confidence in a “successful resolution” to the case
Rapper Sean Kingston, along with his mother, have made their first appearance at a federal court in Miami on charges of committing fraud worth more than $1 million.
High-end accusations
Kingston, 34, along with Janice Turner, 61, stand accused of taking part in a fraudulent scheme to defraud victims of high-end vehicles, jewelry and other goods by using fraudulent documents.
Kingston – real name Kisean Anderson – was initially arrested in May at Fort Irwin, an army training base in California where he was performing. Turner was also arrested in May at Kingston’s rented mansion in Fort Lauderdale.
Both have been charged with conducting and organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, identity theft and related crimes, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. Items the pair are alleged to have stolen between October 2023 and March 2024 include money, jewelry, a car and furniture.
The federal indictment says Kingston and Turner falsely claimed that they had made electronic bank transfers and other types of payment transfer for items when no such transactions had happened. The pair then kept the items, despite having not paid for them.
No new comment
Robert Rosenblatt, the lawyer representing the pair, has not made any comments about the court appearance. He has previously said that the pair were “confident of a successful resolution” to the case.
Kingston is best known for ‘Beautiful Girls’ his debut single which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2007. The follow-up, ‘Eenie Meenie’ – with Justin Bieber – also went top 20. Success has been harder to find in recent years, taking 10 years between recording his third and fourth studio albums.
