Rapper Sean Kingston was arrested on numerous fraud and theft charges in California on Thursday, hours after his mother was also arrested during a SWAT raid of his rented Florida mansion, authorities said.
According to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Kingston (real name Kisean Paul Anderson), was arrested “without incident” in Fort Irwin, Calif.
NBC 6 South Florida captured aerial footage of the raid at Kingston’s Fort Lauderdale home, in which his mother, 61-year-old Janice Turner, is escorted to a police cruiser in handcuffs.
The outlet reported the arrests are to do with a lawsuit against Kingston, 34, that accuses the Beautiful Girls singer of defrauding a Florida-based company by refusing to pay for a home entertainment system that features a 232-inch television.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office has not confirmed any connections between the ongoing lawsuit and Kingston’s arrest or the raid on his home.
After his mother was arrested, Kingston made a statement on Instagram saying his lawyers are “handling everything as we speak.” He did not directly address any of the charges.
“People love negative energy!” Kingston wrote. “I am good and so is my mother!”
The company suing Kingston, Ver Ver Entertainment, in the lawsuit said the rapper inquired about purchasing an entertainment system in September. Ver Ver alleged Kingston asked for a lesser payment and credit with the company in exchange for arranging Justin Bieber to star in its commercials.
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Kingston and Bieber collaborated on the hit 2010 song Eenie Meenie and then Won’t Stop, released the following year.
The lawsuit claims Kingston paid only US$30,000 (nearly C$41,000) to Ver Ver Entertainment in November. It said Kingston never came through on his numerous commercial promises and made no further payments.
Dennis Card, the lawyer representing Ver Ver, said this fraudulent behaviour is commonplace for Kingston.
“He’s got basically a script,” Card told NBC 6. “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.”
“He likes having bling, he likes showing off, he’s a showman,” Card continued. “This is an organized systematic fraud.”
Card alleged Kingston’s mother is “complicit” in the alleged fraud. He said Bieber is not at all involved with Kingston today.
He said the television sound system provided by Ver Ver is worth US$150,000 (about C$205,000). At the time of his arrest, Kingston was in California for a performance.
He has been jailed in San Bernadino, Calif. His extradition to Florida is pending.
Turner is being held on US$160,000 (about C$219,200) bond. According to records from the Florida Department of Corrections, Kingston is currently on two years’ probation for trafficking stolen property.
Turner in 2006 pleaded guilty to bank fraud for stealing over US$160,000 and served a nearly year and a half prison sentence, AP reported.
The investigation is ongoing.
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