Jamaican-American musician Sean Kingston has been arrested in California on Thursday, just a few hours after a SWAT team stormed his rented South Florida home.
The 34-year-old musician and his 62-year-old mother, Janice Turner, were detained on “fraud and theft charges.”
Outside the estate, amid pricey sports cars, authorities were observed packing stuff into a van.
Attorney Dennis Card filed a lawsuit alleging fraud over a $150,000 232-inch television installation, which may be related to the arrests.
Card accused Kingston of defrauding Ver Ver Entertainment in February by failing to make promised payments and commercials. They are asking for $30,000 and attorney fees in a trial by jury.
“He basically has a sales pitch that he goes through to defraud people. He induces them into giving him really expensive things,” Card, who represents the company, said.
“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.”
In a statement, the Broward county sheriff’s office said Kingston was taken into custody in Fort Irwin, California, and will be booked in jail in San Bernardino.
The sheriff’s office disclosed that it served arrest and search warrants at the property near Fort Lauderdale where the singer resides.
“As a result of the investigation, an adult female, Janice Turner, 2/16/1963, was taken into custody on numerous fraud and theft charges,” the statement reads.
“This investigation is active and ongoing.”
In an earlier Instagram post, Kingston said his lawyers were “handling everything”.
“People love negative energy!” the rapper wrote in the post which was later taken down.
“I am good, and so is my mother! … My lawyers are handling everything as we speak.”
Kingston is now serving a two-year probationary sentence for trafficking in stolen items, citing documents at the Florida Department of Corrections.
In 2006, his mother went to prison for bank fraud.
Born Kisean Anderson, the rapper will be detained in California until he is extradited to Florida.
The hits “Beautiful Girls,” “Take You There,” and “Eenie Meenie,” which Kingston co-wrote with Justin Bieber in 2007, are what made him most famous.
