Authorities in South Florida raided the home of rapper Sean Kingston and arrested his mother Thursday morning in connection to allegations that he swindled a tech company out of thousands of dollars in a deal over a massive television and speaker system.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office and Davie Police SWAT served arrest and search warrants at the luxurious Southwest Ranches property as part of an investigation that started in nearby Dania Beach, the Broward County Sheriff told The Post.
Authorities swarmed the luxurious Southwest Ranches property, which had multiple police cruisers parked inside and around its front gates, overheard footage from WSVN showed.
It was not clear if Kingston – whose real name is Kisean Paul Anderson – was home at the time of the raid.
Kingston’s 61-year-old mother, Janice Turner, was arrested at the scene on “numerous” fraud and theft charges.
Sean Kingston’s home was raided by officials.WireImage
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office swarmed the luxurious Southwest Ranches property, according to reports.CBS News
Recording artist Sean Kingston (R) and mother Janice Turner arrive to celebrate Sean’s 21st birthday at the Tryst Nightclub.FilmMagic
Turner – who goes by “Mama Kingston” on Instagram – was seen being led away in handcuffs in a photo obtained by WSVN.
The allegations against Kingston stem from a lawsuit filed against Kingston in February by Ver Ver Entertainment LLC, which is seeking damages from the “Beautiful Girls” crooner for breach of contract and fraud.
Kingston reached out to Ver Ver via Instagram in September 2023 and bought a 232 -inch Colossal TV, as well as a sound system, the company alleged in the documents viewed by The Post.
The typical price of the massive television alone starts at over $91,000, according to the retailer’s website – with the speaker system and assembly tacking on another $20,000 bill.
In order to lower the price of the $111,000 purchase, Kingston supposedly promised to make promotional videos about the products with his friend, Justin Beiber, the suit said.
Kingston, 34, and Beiber, 30, famously collaborated on the song “Eenie Meenie,” which appeared on Beiber’s 2010 debut album.
At the time of the television purchase, however, Kingston had “no ongoing work” with the pop star, nor did he “have any intention” of making the promotional content, the lawsuit alleged.
“[Kingston] made these false statements to induce Plaintiff into a 232-inch installing Colossal TV and sound system with as small a down payment as possible,” the scathing filing claimed.
It was not clear if Kingston was home at the time of the raid.
The allegation stems from a lawsuit filed against the “Beautiful Girls” singer in February by Ver Entertainment LLC, reports say.Getty Images
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office is trying to expand the initial search to other areas of Kingston’s home, said Dennis Card.CBS News
Kingston and Ver Ver entered into a contract in late October, which outlined that Kingston would wire a $30,000 down payment, followed by a second installment of $47,827.16 to be paid after the tech was installed and the social media videos worth over $38,000 were posted, the exhibits showed.
At the end of the deal, Kingston would have received the new television and sound system for only about $77,827.16 – or almost $33,000 less than the original price.
After the installations were complete, however, Kingston failed to pay off the rest of the job – and never produced any of the promo videos he promised, the company’s lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit also detailed Kingston’s past brushes with the law, which included a 2015 judgment for obtaining $356,000 in watches without paying for them, as well as an additional ruling the following year when he failed ot pay for $301,500 worth of jewelry.
Reps for Kingston didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.
Dennis Card, an attorney for Ver Ver, was outside of Kingston’s home while the raid took place.
“He said 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,” Card told WSVN.
“And he lures people using his celebrity into having them release things without having him pay for it and then he simply never pays,” the lawyer claimed.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office is trying to expand the initial search to other areas of Kingston’s home, Card added.
“He is stealing the property itself,” Card said.
“He has a standardized script that he gives people, which is that he’s a recording artist, that he certainly is, and that he wants to purchase these things, but he never pays for anything. He gets the stuff and that’s the end of the story. He does it over and over and over.”
Dennis Card did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for a comment.
