Sean Kingston and his mother, Janice Turner, pleaded for permission to leave the country for a work trip months after being arrested on fraud charges, In Touch has exclusively learned.
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, a Florida judge signed off on the mother-son duo traveling to Equatorial Guinea from June 23 to June 29 for “business purposes.”
The judge ordered Sean’s passport to be turned over to him for the trip. However, the order noted, “Upon his return … the Defendant shall surrender his passport to the Clerk of Courts no later than July 1.” The trip comes after the duo asked the court to modify the terms of their bond — and allow them to speak to each other.
They said they lived together and share a lawyer. As In Touch previously reported, Sean, 34, was arrested by California authorities on May 23 as part of a Florida criminal investigation into him and his mother over alleged fraud. Janice was arrested in Florida.
Sean was extradited to Florida and hit with criminal charges including grand theft, identify theft, and fraud.
Prosecutors accuse Sean and Janice of defrauding companies and individuals out of a million dollars’ worth of goods and services. The musician was released from custody after posting a $100,000 bond. He was ordered to surrender his passport and firearms.
Sean used the mortgage on his Florida property as collateral for the bond. Robert Rosenblatt, who represents Sean and his mother, said he was confident a “successful resolution” will be reached in the case.
On Instagram, Sean wrote to his fans, “People love negative energy! I am good, and so is my mother! … My lawyers are handling everything as we speak.” According to TMZ, Sean previously served probation in a criminal case which involved trafficking alleged stolen property.
As In Touch first reported, Sean was served with a $1 million lawsuit over an alleged debt while locked up in California. A company named Dream Watch hired a process server to drive to the jail to have officials serve Sean. Dream Watch sued Sean in 2023 over an alleged debt owed over high-end watches.
In court documents, Dream Watch demanded $1,054,107 in damages. The company said Sean reached out to it in 2022. Dream Watch said the musician wanted to buy two watches — a Richard Mille Model RM 65.01 Automatic and a Patek Philippe Calibre.
The suit claimed Sean agreed to pay $534,000 for the Richard Mille and another $378,000 for the Patek Philippe. A rep from the company flew from Malaysia to L.A. to deliver the watches. However, the company said Sean never sent the $912,000 owed as promised.
“Kingston represented his initial wire attempt was rejected because it was flagged by his bank due to the large amount being wired overseas,” the suit read.
Dream Watch continued, “Thereafter, Kingston represented his account was frozen due to the initial wire attempt, amongst other excuses which persisted for over three months until Kingston stopped responding to Plaintiff entirely. Ultimately, the agreed upon funds were never sent, and Defendants continue to refuse to render payment as agreed. Defendant Kingston continues to possess the two watches.”
Sean has yet to respond to Dream Watch’s lawsuit.
