Rapper Sean Kingston and his mother, Janice Turner, are both facing decades in prison after being indicted on federal charges of fraud.
The Beautiful Girls hitmaker, 34, and his mother, 61, were indicted in a Miami court yesterday (Friday, July 19) in connection with a $1million (£774,173) wire fraud scheme.
Kingston – real name Kisean Anderson – and Turner both appeared in court after first being arrested in May.
They were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud charges from their involvement in a scheme to defraud victim sellers of high-end vehicles, jewellery, and various other goods.
The United States Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida declared that they ‘unjustly enriched themselves by falsely representing that they had executed bank wire or other monetary payment transfers.’
Allegedly, the scheme involved making payments through banks that were never actually processed, leading to the defendants accumulating a hefty amount in property.
Investigators said Kingston and Turner then kept over $1million of fraudulently purchased items, despite not paying for them.
The warrants state that, from October to March 2023, the mother and son stole almost $500,000 (£387,191) in jewellery, over $200,000 (£154,876) from Bank of America, $160,000 (£123,901) from a Cadilac Escalade dealer, more than $100,000 (£77,438) from First Republic Bank, and $86,000 (74,340) from customised beds.
Each faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
It comes after Kingston was taken to Broward County Jail on similar state charges last month, having previously been arrested at an army training base, where he was performing.
In the desert around 150 miles away from Los Angeles, Fort Irwin in California’s Mojave Desert booked Kingston to play for the United States Army’s Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) Programs.
Turner was also arrested on May 23, with a SWAT team raiding his Florida mansion.
The Fire Burning musician had already been serving a two-year sentence on probation for trafficking stolen property.
Meanwhile, Turner’s legal issues date back to 2006 when she pled guilty to four counts of filing false loan applications and one count of bank fraud involving $132,000 (£102,218) in stolen funds.
She served almost one and a half years behind bars.
Turner was also embroiled in a civil lawsuit seeking $100k in unpaid rent for a different home than the one police raided.
As for the latest charges, Kingston and Turner previously said they are ‘confident of a successful resolution.’
While he hasn’t addressed the latest development, Kingston shared a video on his Instagram Story just one day ago, telling his fans: ‘New music coming soon, stay tuned.’
Before his initial arrest, Kingston also wrote on his Instagram Story: ‘People love negative energy! I am good and so is my mother!
‘My lawyers are handling everything as we speak.’
Born in Miami, Kingston shot to fame after releasing his debut single, Beautiful Girls, in 2007, which peaked at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
He is also known for the top 20 follow-up single Eenie Meenie, featuring Justin Bieber.
Kingston has won several accolades throughout his career, including a Mobo and a Teen Choice Award.