Sean Kingston and mother charged with fraud

Sean Kingston and his mother have been charged with fraud.
The “Beautiful Girls” singer and 61-year-old Janice Turner appeared in federal court Friday (7/19/24) after a Miami grand jury returned an indictment accusing the pair of falsely claiming they had made bank transfers for luxury items.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida, the charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud against the 34-year-old rapper and his mother stem from their alleged involvement in “a scheme to defraud victims who were sellers of expensive, specialty vehicles, jewelry and other goods purchased by the defendants using fraudulent documents.”
The firm further stated that the couple “unlawfully enriched themselves by falsely representing that they had made wire transfers or other monetary payments in payment for vehicles, jewelry and other property purchased by Defendants, when in fact no wire transfers or other monetary payments were made by the purported banks, and thereafter Defendants retained or attempted to retain the vehicles, jewelry and other property despite the lack of payment. Through the execution of this scheme, Defendants obtained more than $1 million worth of property.”
The duo are accused of stealing nearly $500,000 worth of jewelry, more than $200,000 from Bank of America, more than $100,000 from First Republic Bank, $160,000 from a Cadillac Escalade dealership and $86,000 from a custom bed manufacturer.
They were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison for each offense.
In May, Kingston was arrested at a military base in California — where he was performing — and extradited to Florida after his home in the state was searched. His mother was also arrested.
At the time of his arrest, the musician was serving a two-year probation period for trafficking stolen goods.
His mother previously pleaded guilty to bank fraud for stealing $160,000 and spent more than a year in prison.