Singer and rapper Sean Kingston was arrested in California yesterday, hours after a SWAT team raided his home in Broward County, Fla., and took his mother into custody, the authorities said.
Kingston, 34, whose real name is Kisean Anderson, and his mother, Janice Turner, 61, both face “numerous fraud and theft charges,” the Broward County Sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Kingston was still in his teens when his debut single, “Beautiful Girls,” spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2007.
He has since collaborated with Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj and Wyclef Jean, but he has kept a lower profile in recent years.
Kingston, who was arrested in Fort Irwin, Calif., and his mother could not be reached for comment and it was not immediately clear if they had lawyers.
Kingston’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment. It was not immediately clear on Friday if he and Ms. Turner were still in custody.
“People love negative energy!” Mr. Kingston posted on Instagram before his arrest. “I am good and so is my mother!..my lawyers are handling everything as we speak.”
The address in Southwest Ranches, Fla., southwest of Fort Lauderdale, where the search was carried out, is listed as Kingston’s residence in a lawsuit that was filed against him in February by a company that sells and installs high-end entertainment systems.
The lawsuit, filed by Ver Ver Entertainment, accuses Kingston of fraud and breach of contract for failing to pay for a 232-inch television and “robust sound system” that was installed in his home in September 2023.
According to the lawsuit, Kingston promised that, in exchange for a lower down payment, he would convince Bieber to produce promotional videos for the company.
No promotional videos were ever filmed, and Kingston paid only $30,000 of the $115,000 he owed for the purchase and installation of the television and sound system, the lawsuit says.
