Police raid singer Sean Kingston's Florida mansion, arrest his mother on fraud and theft charges
"My lawyers are handling everything as we speak," the "Beautiful Girls" performer wrote on Instagram.
Singer and rapper Sean Kingston is at the center of a criminal investigation that led law enforcement to raid his South Florida mansion Thursday, where they arrested his mother, Janice Turner.
A public information officer at the Broward County Sheriff's Office told Entertainment Weekly that detectives served arrest and search warrants at Kingston's residence in Southwest Ranches as part of an investigation that began in the city of Dania Beach.
Working with the BSO's Strategic Investigations Unit and Davie Police SWAT, authorities raided the property and took Turner, 61, into custody "on numerous fraud and theft charges." The investigation is ongoing.
Local news station WPLG reported the presence of more than a dozen BSO deputies near a command center set up in the driveway of Kingston's home.
It did not appear that Kingston, whose real name is Kisean Paul Anderson, was home at the time of the incident. In a post to his Instagram Stories on Wednesday, Kingston, 34, indicated that he was out of state, having recently wrapped a performance in Los Angeles, with another set for Las Vegas.
On Thursday, Kingston addressed the raid on his Instagram Stories, writing, "People love negative energy! I am good and so is my mother! My lawyers are handling everything as we speak."
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Authorities did not state whether there was an arrest warrant for Kingston.
The musician is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Ver Ver Entertainment, which sued him in February for allegedly failing to make payments on the sale and installation of a large television at his residence, according to Broward County court records.
An attorney for Ver Ver Entertainment, J. Dennis Card Jr., echoed claims made in the complaint in a statement to EW, saying "I sued [Kingston] for defrauding my client out of a 232 inch home entertainment system. A Broward detective read my lawsuit and reached out to me. My client gave a sworn statement in support of a search warrant."
He added, "We have been waiting on this raid for a few months, and today was D Day."
Representatives for Kingston didn't immediately respond to EW's request for comment.
Kingston, a Jamaica-born artist, is best known for hits including "Beautiful Girls," "Fire Burning," and "Eenie Meenie," his 2010 collaboration with Justin Bieber.
He made headlines in 2020 when a warrant was issued for his arrest for grand theft, after he allegedly failed to pay a jeweler for several pieces of jewelry. That instance was one of several run-ins with the law; he previously faced legal action from two New York-based jewelers and a separate Florida jeweler for allegedly failing to pay for merchandise that he acquired.
[This article has been updated with a statement from attorney J. Dennis Card Jr.]
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.