Rapper Sean Kingston faces fraud charges; police raid Florida home
May 23 (UPI) -- Police on Thursday raided the Florida home of rapper Sean Kingston, who is accused of not paying for a $150,000 entertainment system.
During the raid, the Broward Sheriff's Office arrested the rapper's mother, 61-year-old Janice Turner, who also faces several charges of fraud and theft.
Kingston, 34, whose real name is Kisean Paul Anderson, was renting the house in Southwest Ranches.
A company called Ver Ver Entertainment filed a civil complaint in February against Kingston, accusing him of partially paying for a 232-inch television and entertainment system.
Dennis Card, an attorney representing Ver Ver Entertainment, said Kingston would use his celebrity status to scam people into giving him products and services and not paying for them.
"He basically has a sales pitch that he goes through to defraud people. He induces them into giving him really expensive things," Card said outside of Kingston's home Thursday.
"We know that our property is inside this house right here, so as soon as the raid takes place we are going to have a crew of people in there to reassemble it and take it back to its rightful owner."
Along with the $150,000 entertainment system are a $80,000 custom bed and about $1 million worth of watches in Kingston's home, Card said.
Kingston has had some musical hits, including his 2007 debut single "Beautiful Girls," and has collaborated with stars such as Justin Bieber and Soulja Boy.
"He'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 said.
Turner pled guilty in January 2006 to four counts of filing false loan applications and one count of bank fraud. She was ordered to repay $132,000 in stolen funds and sentenced to 16 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release.
Kingston was seriously injured in May 2011 when his jet ski struck the bridge between Palm Island and the MacArthur Causeway.
