Kingston was arrested on May 23 at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in California's Mojave Desert, where he was performing, and was booked into the Broward County jail on similar state charges (AP photo)
34-year-old rapper and singer
Sean Kingston
, and his 61-year-old
mother
, Janice Turner, have been
indicted
by a
Miami
grand jury on federal charges of participating in a scheme to defraud victims of high-end specialty vehicles, jewelry, and other goods worth over $1 million through the use of fraudulent documents, news agency AP reported. The mother-son duo made their initial appearances in federal court on Friday, as per court records.
According to the warrants for the state charges, from October to March, Kingston and Turner stole nearly $500,000 in jewelry, more than $200,000 from Bank of America, $160,000 from a Cadillac Escalade dealer, over $100,000 from First Republic Bank, and $86,000 from a customized bed maker.
The federal indictment alleges that Kingston and Turner falsely claimed to have executed bank wire or other monetary payment transfers for high-end items, despite no such transfers having taken place. Investigators stated that the duo kept over $1 million worth of fraudulently purchased items without paying for them.
Kingston was arrested on May 23 at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in California's Mojave Desert, where he was performing, and was booked into the Broward County jail on similar state charges. On the same day, Turner was arrested when a SWAT team raided Kingston's rented mansion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Kingston, known for his No. 1 hit "Beautiful Girls" in 2007 and his collaboration with Justin Bieber on "Eenie Meenie," was already serving a two-year probation sentence for trafficking stolen property. His mother had previously pleaded guilty to bank fraud in 2006 for stealing over $160,000 and served nearly 1.5 years in prison.
He had previously stated that they were looking forward to addressing the charges and were "confident of a successful resolution."
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