FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A SWAT team raided rapper Sean Kingston’s rented South Florida mansion on Thursday and arrested his mother on fraud and theft charges that a lawyer says stem in part from the installation of a huge TV in the home.
Broward County detectives arrested Janice Turner, 61, at the 1,300-square-foot home in Southwest Ranches, an affluent suburb of Fort Lauderdale that is home to many celebrities and professional athletes, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Miami Dolphins star, Tyreek Hill.
The sheriff’s office said the investigation is ongoing and declined to release specific details about the allegations against Turner or whether his 34-year-old son is also a target. Local media reported that Kingston is out of town and was not present during the operation. Broward County prosecutors referred all questions to the sheriff’s office.
Federal court records show she pleaded guilty in 2006 to bank fraud for stealing more than $160,000 and served nearly 1.5 years in prison.
“People love negative energy!” Kingston posted to Instagram on Thursday. “I’m fine and so is my mom! … My lawyers are handling everything as we speak.” The post was later removed.
Robert Rosenblatt, an attorney representing the rapper and his mother, said “we are aware of some of the allegations” made against the two.
“We look forward to addressing this in court and are confident of a successful resolution for Shawn and his mother,” Rosenblatt said in an email Thursday.
Florida Department of Corrections records show he is currently on two years probation for trafficking in stolen property. Reporters at the home could see authorities filling a cargo van with goods. The mansion was surrounded by expensive sports cars.
The Jamaican-American rapper is best known for his 2007 No. 1 single “Beautiful Girls” and his collaboration with Justin Bieber on “Eenie Meenie” and “Take You There.” In 2011, he suffered near-fatal injuries in a jet ski accident. Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Anderson, hasn’t released a major label album in over a decade.
A lawyer who witnessed the arrest says it is partially related to a lawsuit he filed against Kingston in February, accusing him of defrauding a Florida company that installed a 232-inch (5.8-meter) television — or approximately 17 feet wide and 9.5 feet tall. (5 meters by 3 meters).
“It’s amazing what you can do if you’re a celebrity,” attorney Dennis Card told the Associated Press. “He creates this larger-than-life persona, ‘I’m rich.’ Your mother is a necessary component in this. He presents himself as a family-oriented guy, ‘I’m looking out for my mom,’ but she knows full well what’s going on.”
In the lawsuit, Ver Ver Entertainment claims that Kingston contacted the company in September about purchasing the television, sold under the Colossal TV brand, and installing it in his home. The system costs US$150,000.
Kingston allegedly told the owners that if they agreed to a lower down payment and gave him credit, he and Bieber would do commercials for them.
In November, Kingston paid the company $30,000 and the TV was installed, the process. No commercials or additional payments were made, despite numerous promises from Kingston, the suit says.
Kingston’s two most recently known publicists did not respond to emails seeking comment.
The lawsuit says Kingston no longer has a working relationship with Bieber, who recently left his longtime manager. No current contact information for Bieber is available.
“He’s not 100% involved in this,” Card said of Bieber. “He had the misfortune of doing some work in the past with Sean and Sean mentioned his name like crazy.”
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
