Rapper Sean Kingston and his mother in court charged with federal fraud offences

Rapper and singer Sean Kingston and his mother have been indicted on federal charges of committing more than $1m (£774m) worth of fraud.

The Beautiful Girls singer, 34, and his 61-year-old mother Janice Turner are accused of participating in a scheme to defraud victims of high-end speciality vehicles, jewellery and other goods through the use of fraudulent documents.

Back in May, a SWAT team in Florida raided the singer's rented mansion in a suburb of celebrity-favourite Fort Lauderdale and arrested Turner over fraud and theft linked to the installation of a gigantic TV.

Kingston was arrested later the same day at Fort Irwin, a US army base in California's Mojave Desert where he was performing, and charged with similar offences at state level.

The pair made their first appearances in a federal court in Miami on Friday.

According to the federal indictment, the mother-and-son falsely claimed that they had executed electronic bank transfers and other payment transfers for high-end items when no such transactions had taken place.

Police said they then kept over $1m worth of fraudulently purchased items despite not paying for them.

From October 2023 to March this year, the pair allegedly defrauded almost $500,000 worth of jewellery, more than $200,000 from the Bank of America, $160,000 from a Cadilac Escalade dealer, more than $100,000 from First Republic Bank and $86,000 from the maker of customised beds.

Robert Rosenblatt, the lawyer representing Kingston and his mother, did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

He previously said they looked forward to addressing the charges and were "confident of a successful resolution".

Jamaican American performer Kingston had a number one hit with Beautiful Girls in 2007. He went on to collaborate with Justin Bieber on the song Eenie Meenie.