Rapper Sean Kingston was arrested while in the middle of performing one of his hits on stage just hours after his mom was taken into custody during a SWAT raid on his luxury Florida mansion.
Mr Kingston, 34, was arrested “without incident” at the US military training area of Fort Irwin, California, according to a statement by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.
Just hours earlier, the rapper’s mother, 61-year-old Janice Turner, was also arrested on fraud charges in Florida following a raid on his 14,000 square-foot Southwest Ranches mansion, which he was renting.
Mr Kingston – whose real name is Kisean Paul Anderson – was accused of hoarding luxury goods that he never paid for, including a 17-foot-wide television system worth $150,000 and $1 million in watches.
Lawyer Dennis Card, who’s representing the company suing Mr Kingston, claims the rapper acquired the TV on credit after allegedly promising the seller, Ver Ver Entertainment, that Justin Bieber would do ads for the firm.
The rapper was performing his hit “Eenie Meenie” during a US Army award cermony at the time of his arrest on Thursday afternoon - a collaboration with Mr Beiber that appeared on his 2010 album “My World.”
Aerial footage showed SWAT team members and deputies descend on the mansion which had several expensive cars parked outside. Ms Turner was pictured in handcuffs, being led away by authorities at the scene.
“He likes having bling, he likes showing off, he’s a showman,” Mr Card told NBC.
“My client has a $150,000 television sound system that’s in there, there’s also about $1m worth of watches that are in there, there’s a $80,000 custom bed that was ordered. This is an organized systematic fraud,” he lamented.
Mr Card concluded: “He’s 100 percent a scammer, he’s on felony probation right now for trafficking in stolen property, he’s got judgements against him for procuring more than $1m in watches without paying for them. This is just an ongoing pattern for Sean.”
The rapper’s lawyers also spoke out following the mother-son arrests.
“We are aware of some of the allegations,” Robert Rosenblatt, an attorney representing both Mr Kingston and Ms Turner, told WPLG.
“We look forward to addressing these in court and are confident of a successful resolution for Sean and his mother,” Mr Rossenblatt added.
Mr Kingston took to Instagram to reassure fans that he and his mom are okay.
“People love negative energy! I am good, and so is my mother!… My lawyers are handling everything as we speak,” he wrote on Thursday.
The Independent has contacted the Broward County Sheriff’s Office requesting more details on Mr Kingston and Ms Turner’s arrest.
