Rapper and singer Sean Kingston and his mother have been indicted in South Florida on federal charges of committing more than $1 million worth of fraud. The Miami grand jury returned an indictment earlier this month, accusing Kingston and his mother of participating in a scheme to defraud victims of high-end specialty vehicles, jewelry, and other goods through the use of fraudulent documents.
Kingston, 34, and his mother, 61-year-old Janice Turner, made their first appearances in federal court. Kingston was booked into Broward County jail on similar state charges last month following an arrest at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in California’s Mojave Desert where he was performing. Turner was arrested the same day as her son when a SWAT team raided his rented mansion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The federal indictment alleges that Kingston and Turner falsely claimed to have executed bank wire or other monetary payment transfers for high-end items when no such transfers had taken place. Investigators stated that Kingston and Turner kept over $1 million worth of fraudulently purchased items without paying for them.
State charges indicate that from October to March, they stole almost $500,000 in jewelry, over $200,000 from Bank of America, $160,000 from a Cadillac Escalade dealer, more than $100,000 from First Republic Bank, and $86,000 from the maker of customized beds.
Sean Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Anderson, had a No. 1 hit with “Beautiful Girls” in 2007 and collaborated with Justin Bieber on the song “Eenie Meenie.” Their attorney, Robert Rosenblatt, stated that they looked forward to addressing the charges and were confident of a successful resolution.
It is worth noting that Kingston was already serving a two-year probation sentence for trafficking stolen property. His mother had previously pleaded guilty in 2006 to bank fraud for stealing over $160,000 and served nearly 1.5 years in prison, according to federal court records.
