Rapper Sean Kingston was arrested during his concert on a US Army base in California on Thursday while SWAT raided his Florida mansion, taking his mother into custody, earlier in the day.
Like his mother Janice Turner, Kingston is accused of multiple counts of fraud and theft, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office arrest warrant. The “Beautiful Girls” singer — who was reportedly in California for performances — was taken into custody in Fort Irwin and booked into jail in San Bernardino County.
“This evening, police in Fort Irwin, Calif., arrested Kisean Anderson, aka Sean Kingston, without incident on a Broward Sheriff’s Office arrest warrant for numerous fraud and theft charges,” the Broward Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
“We were in the process of having him return to Florida after his show,” Bob Rosenblatt, an attorney representing Kingston, told NBC News, adding that the singer would waive extradition. “We want him back asap so we can show this is merely a civil case and not criminal. We look forward to challenging this case in court. “
Following the raid conducted by Broward Sheriff deputies and Davie Police SWAT, an attorney named Dennis Card, who represents Ver Ver Entertainment, told NBC Miami that the raid was conducted in connection to a lawsuit the company filed alleging that Kingston never paid for luxury items — namely a 232? TV and premium sound system — he had purchased.
“[Kingston] likes having bling, he likes showing off, he’s a showman,” 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’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 added; Kingston and Bieber recorded the song “Eenie Meenie” together in 2010.
Card added, “He’s got judgements against him for procuring more than $1 million in watches without paying for them. This is just an ongoing pattern for Sean,” alluding to previous lawsuits against Kingston including a $1 million unpaid jewelry bill.
Kingston’s mother, Turner, has legal issues dating back to at least 2006, when she pled guilty to four counts of filing false loan applications and one count of bank fraud involving $132,000 in stolen funds. She was sentenced to 16 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Turner also is currently embroiled in a civil lawsuit seeking $100,000 in unpaid rent for a different Florida home.
Following his mother’s arrest but prior to his own, Kingston posted on his Instagram Stories, “People love negative energy! I am good and so is my mother!. My lawyers are handling everything as we speak.”
via: Rolling Stone
