Rapper Sean Kingston Faces Fraud Charges For Stealing Over $1M
Together with his mother, Janice Turner, rapper Sean Kingston is facing fraud charges for high-end purchases amounting to over $1 million that haven’t been paid for.
The 34-year-old artist and his 61-year-old mother appeared in a Miami federal court on Friday, July 19. The two have been accused of defrauding their victims to gain access to expensive jewelry, vehicles, and goods using fraudulent documents.
According to state charges, the pair stole over $200,000 from Bank of America, nearly $500,000 in jewelry, $160,000 from a Cadilac dealer, $86,000 from a manufacturer of customized beds, and over $100,000 from First Republic Bank.
Court documents allege that Turner and Kingston lied about making bank wire transfers and other payment transactions. The two are believed to have retained more than $1 million worth of goods that have never been paid for.
This isn’t their first brush with the law. Last July, Kingston was booked in the Broward County Jail after his arrest on May 23. He and his mother were apprehended after local authorities raided a home registered under his name.
It hasn’t been officially established why his home was raided but the address is associated with a lawsuit filed against the singer by Ver Ver Entertainment, a provider of premium TVs and sound systems.
According to court documents filed by Ver Ver, Kingston negotiated a lower price by agreeing to produce marketing videos for them with Justin Bieber. Though he remitted a $30,000 donwpayment and the products have been installed, Kingston didn’t settle the rest of the bill and didn’t create the videos.
Ver Ver claimed in its lawsuit that Kingston had no intention of filming promotional content for the company and doesn’t have an ongoing relationship with Bieber.
The day before the arrest, Kingston dismissed his legal troubles on social media. He told fans, “People love negative energy! I am good and so is my mother!..my lawyers are handling everything as we speak.”
Additionally, Kingston reportedly violated a two-year probation by trafficking stolen property. His probation is scheduled to end on October 1, 2025.
Earlier, Turner pleaded guilty to accusations that she filed fraudulent loan applications in 2006 and stole more than $160,000. Court documents indicate she was handed a 16-month prison sentence and was released in March 2007.
If found guilty, each count could mean a maximum jail time of 20 years.
