Why were Sean Kingston and his mother arrested? New documents reveal $1.1 million scheme

Reggae artist Sean Kingston and his mother schemed for months to defraud an exotic car dealer, mattress seller, jewelry store and banks of hundreds of thousands of dollars, newly released documents reveal. The alleged plot led to the pair’s arrest and Thursday’s South Florida mansion raid.

Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Paul Anderson, was arrested Thursday and is waiting in a California jail to be brought back to Broward County . His mother, Janice Turner, remains in Broward jail on a $160,000 bond. She was arrested after the Broward Sheriff’s Office and Davie police SWAT raided Kingston’s seven-bedroom mansion in Southwest Ranches.

READ MORE: Sean Kingston, his mother arrested on multiple fraud charges after South Florida raid

According to newly released arrest warrants, Kingston faces four counts of criminal use of personal identification information, three counts of grand theft, one count of organized scheme to defraud, one count of issuing insufficient funds check and a probation violation.

Turner faces three counts of criminal use of personal identification information, two counts of grand theft, one count of organized scheme to defraud and one count of issuing insufficient funds check.

No attorney was listed in Turner’s case and Kingston’s case hasn’t been filed in Broward Circuit Court yet

An $86K mattress, Cadillac Escalade and $480K in jewelry

From October to March, Broward detectives say Kingston and Turner defrauded a slew of companies of over $1.1 million, according to a Broward Sheriff’s Office warrant.

The alleged scheme began on Oct. 24, when Turner defrauded Bank of America out of $100,000. Detectives say Kingston aided in getting the funds, according to the arrest warrant.

Kingston and Turner then went after Maree mattress seller and obtained furniture worth $86,568.33 on Nov. 15. According to its website, Maree also sells frames, sheets and comforters.

On the same day, Turner issued a check for $44,298.33, which bounced because of insufficient funds. It’s unclear who the check was given to, but detectives say Kingston also aided in the crime, the warrant says.

On Nov. 21, the pair obtained a Cadillac Escalade from Ocean Auto Club, an exotic car dealer in Doral and Coral Gables. The warrant says Kingston and Turner “temporarily or permanently” deprived the dealer of the car, which was valued at $159,701.49. Turner defrauded First Republic Bank of $100,000 or more on the same day, with Kingston’s aid, the warrant said.

On his own, the musician defrauded Novo Platform Inc., a bank, of $5,000 on Jan. 15, according to the warrant.

On March 14, authorities say Kingston and Turner committed their largest fraud scheme. The two took $480,000 in jewelry from Andrii Nikolenko, according to the warrant. It is unclear whether Nikolenko is a jeweler or owns the items. That same day, the BSO warrant said Turner defrauded Bank of America out of $100,000.

Meanwhile, amid the allegations, Kingston was on probation, adding another charge to his rap sheet.

History of missed payments

For more than a decade, Kingston has been sued for bounced checks or missed payments when shopping for expensive jewelry. He’s been ordered to pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars several times.

In 2014, Avi Da Jeweler was awarded $355,000 in a lawsuit against Kingston and Turner, who were accused of not paying $225,000 in jewelry bills.

Since 2009, Miami jewelry company Haimov Jewelers sued Kingston three times, and in one case he was ordered to pay nearly $100,000.

Kingston faced a criminal conviction in 2023 for not paying for jewelry. He had to complete two years of probation for trafficking in stolen property.

Miami Herald staff writer Grethel Aguila contributed to this report.