Somebody call 9-1-1, Sean is Wire-Frauding on the Dance Floor
Sean Kingston's mugshot from his May 2024 arrest. Photo from the Broward County Sherriff's Office
Kisean Anderson—known to hip hop fans as Sean Kingston—and his mother, Janice Turner, have been found guilty on multiple counts of defrauding luxury businesses. Targeting high-end automotive, mattress and jewelry brands with lucrative wire fraud schemes, the damages have surpassed an estimated $1 million.
Kickstarting the investigation was a civil suit filed by Ver Ver Entertainment, manufacturers offering a 232-inch television and powerful speaker setup. Kingston reached out to them in 2023 through his social media outlets to obtain one of their entertainment systems and offered to create promotional materials with Justin Bieber in addition to payment. Kingston failed to pay, and his last collaboration with Bieber was more than fifteen years ago.
Both Turner and Kingston were arrested this past May in the aftermath of a SWAT raid at Kingston’s Fort Lauderdale mansion. They were formally arraigned on August 27, with Turner being charged with five counts of fraud and three counts of grand theft. Kingston was charged with six counts of fraud, three counts of grand theft and parole violation for trafficking stolen goods. While this is Kingston’s first publicized criminal trial, it is neither’s first rodeo with fraud.
This is Turner’s second conviction of grand theft, following a 2006 bank fraud conviction that landed her 18 months in federal prison. Kingston has been sued on numerous occasions for faulty wire transfers: once in 2015, paying $356,000 to luxury watch business Aqua Master, and again in 2018, coughing up an additional $300,000 to a private jeweler in New York City.
In an additional 2015 dispute, Kingston paid $185,000 to Avianne Jewelers, despite owing them $225,000 for a luxury watch.
His rationale was that he personally felt the watch was not worth any more than he paid.
Following his failure to understand basic commerce, he publicly accused them of kidnapping him in downtown Los Angeles. Kingston made a post on X later that week from @SeanKingston, stating “Never trust Avianne jewelers... Period.. Shady business.. GOD never misses anything so we will leave this in his hands but just know KARMA!”
Karma did, in fact, come back around to Sean Kingston when he was arrested on May 23, 2024.
While Turner was arrested in Fort Lauderdale at the site of the SWAT raid, Kingston was taken into custody immediately following a performance for the troops at Fort Irwin in California.
Preceding his arrest, Kingston made an Instagram post, stating, “People love negative energy! I am good and so is my mother!..my lawyers are handling everything as we speak.”
He carried this positive energy into his trial, promising fans he would “speak his truth.” Kingston then pleaded the fifth and declined to testify.
Judge David S. Leibowitz, presiding over the case, reportedly called Turner “the fixer and nerve center” of the operation, while Kingston carried out the scheme via his social media outlets. Kingston and Turner conducted each scheme similarly to the Ver Ver Entertainment fraud.
Kingston would contact luxury brands, meet with representatives at his private residence and entice early deliveries by promising celebrity endorsement. From there, false wire transfers were sent as payment, and Kingston would follow up with excuses as to why they could not pay.
From October 2023 to March 2024, Turner and Kingston defrauded the makers of luxury beds for a total of $86,000; the Bank of America for a sum of $200,000; First Republic Bank for an additional $100,000; a Cadillac dealership for $160,000, in the form of a bullet-proof Escalade and a cumulative $500,000 in jewelry, presumed to be from additional high-end watch dealers. Altogether, this is a total of $1,046,000 in stolen cash and luxury goods.
Turner’s attorney described the case as the result of a “woman’s intuition” that she was protecting her son from the fraudulent activity of these business owners. Meanwhile, Kingston’s defense team described him as a child who does not understand finances and the consequences of his actions. Kingston did, however, understand the concept of faking wire transfer receipts, according to text messages presented by the prosecution.
Despite their not-guilty pleas, Turner and Kingston were found guilty on all counts on March 28. Turner has been placed under federal custody, with Kingston under monitored house arrest. Bond was posted using $200,000 cash and a relative’s home as collateral. As Turner was taken away by authorities, Kingston began weeping and cried out, “Protect my mother!”
Florida prosecutors issued state-specific “organized fraud” charges, classifying them as “criminal use of personal identification information.” Grand theft convictions in the state of Florida carry prison sentences of up to 30 years, with first-degree felony fraud convictions also having a maximum of 30 years. Both the “Beautiful Girls” singer and his mother will be sentenced on July 11.