The Kid Laroi's mother Sloane Howard is linked to $10,000 credit card crime spree

July 2024 · 6 minute read

The mother of teenage rap sensation The Kid Laroi has been linked to a credit card crime spree across inner-city Sydney totalling almost $10,000.

Sloane Howard, whose son’s real name is Charlton Howard, has been accused of fraudulently using a credit card to pay for cosmetic services at a laser clinic four years ago. 

Details of the same credit card holder were also used by a man who once lived near the Howards to pay for $9,299.43 in accommodation, clothing from online store The Iconic and plumbing tools.

The Kid Laroi famously spent part of his childhood living in public housing, from where his mother began guiding his music career to international acclaim.

Sloane Howard, the mother of teenage rap sensation The Kid Laroi, has been linked to a credit card crime spree across Sydney totalling almost $10,000. The singer is pictured with his mother and music producer father Nick Howard who split when The Kid Laroi was about four

Sloane Howard, the mother of teenage rap sensation The Kid Laroi, has been linked to a credit card crime spree across Sydney totalling almost $10,000. The singer is pictured with his mother and music producer father Nick Howard who split when The Kid Laroi was about four

Mother and son returned triumphantly to Australia in late May for the local leg of a world tour which was interrupted by Howard having to hand herself into police over an old fraud charge. The Kid Laroi is pictured with girlfriend Katarina Deme

Mother and son returned triumphantly to Australia in late May for the local leg of a world tour which was interrupted by Howard having to hand herself into police over an old fraud charge. The Kid Laroi is pictured with girlfriend Katarina Deme 

Mother and son returned triumphantly to Australia in late May for the local leg of a world tour which was interrupted by Howard having to hand herself into police over an old fraud charge. 

Police allege Howard used the credit card details of a John Keith to pay for cosmetic services worth $849 from Laser Clinics Australia at Marrickville Metro Shopping Centre on August 8, 2018. 

About that time Sloane was living with her then 14-year-old son in the inner-city Drysdale public housing block in Pitt Street, Waterloo. 

The 51-year-old, who has pleaded not guilty to one count of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception, was listed before Downing Centre Local Court on Monday. 

On that day the court heard an offender charged with the ‘same factual matrix’ had been sentenced in the Downing Centre in May. 

That offender is 62-year-old Christopher Brett Kearney, who at the time of his September 2019 arrest lived in the Joseph Banks public housing building in George Street, Waterloo. 

Sloane Howard has pleaded not guilty to fraudulently using a credit card to pay for cosmetic services at a Sydney shopping centre in August 2018. She is pictured with son The Kid Laroi

Sloane Howard has pleaded not guilty to fraudulently using a credit card to pay for cosmetic services at a Sydney shopping centre in August 2018. She is pictured with son The Kid Laroi

The Kid Laroi famously spent part of his childhood living in public housing (above), from where his mother began guiding his music career to international acclaim

The Kid Laroi famously spent part of his childhood living in public housing (above), from where his mother began guiding his music career to international acclaim

Kearney was charged by the Inner West Proactive Crime Team with five counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception and pleaded not guilty to each offence.  

Sloane was charged by the same officer from the same team in September 2020. 

Kearney was accused of using the credit card details of John Keith to purchase clothing worth $685.79 from The Iconic online store between July 26 and August 10, 2018.

He was also accused of using those details to purchase purchase of a $1,298 Apple iPhone 8 from Officeworks and floral arrangements valued at $393 between the same dates.

During the same time frame Kearney used the card details to buy plumbing tools priced at $7,986.14 from Tradelink at Alexandria.

Four nights’ accommodation worth $627.50 was racked up with the card when Kearney stayed at The Collectionist hotel at Camperdown from July 27 to 31, 2018.

Howard attended Day Street police station in the city on May 26 after returning to Australia from Los Angeles where she has lived with her son for about three years. The Kid Laroi is pictured performing at Qudos Bank Arena on May 26

Howard attended Day Street police station in the city on May 26 after returning to Australia from Los Angeles where she has lived with her son for about three years. The Kid Laroi is pictured performing at Qudos Bank Arena on May 26 

A statement from a sales assistant at The Flower Room was tendered during a hearing held in the Downing Centre Local Court in May. 

The assistant said she had taken a phone order from a woman calling herself Simone on the afternoon of August 4, 2018. 

The caller had wanted to buy one pink oriental ($40), one zanzibar ($55), two hanging succulents ($70), one white mini phaly orchid ($66), one pink mini phaly ($66), one purple hyacinth ($46) and two white tulips ($60).   

The assistant said the flowers were picked up by a man and a child on behalf of ‘Simone’ about 5pm. 

Kearney was found not guilty of fraudulently using the credit card to buy the flowers and iPhone but convicted of the other three offences and sentenced to an 18-month community correction order.

Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Howard was involved in any way in Kearney’s crimes, only that she is accused of using the same man’s credit card details. 

Howard attended Day Street police station in the city on May 26 after returning to Australia from Los Angeles where she has lived with her son for about three years. 

The outstanding warrant was executed and she faced court for the first time on May 30, as The Kid Laroi played the third of his nine scheduled Australian concerts.        

Howard’s matter was mentioned again in Downing Centre Local Court on Monday when solicitor Chris Watson sought an adjournment so the rest of a police brief could be served.

Mr Watson said Howard was overseas as part of an existing contractual agreement and he could not be sure of her exact whereabouts.

‘That’s not her choice – it’s a contractual commitment,’ Mr Watson told the court. 

‘This is a pre-existing world tour by her son. My client is travelling overseas and her movements at this stage are unknown to me.’

Sloane Howard has pleaded not guilty to dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception. In social media posts, Kid Laroi obscures his mother's face with mark-up scribble

Sloane Howard has pleaded not guilty to dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception. In social media posts, Kid Laroi obscures his mother’s face with mark-up scribble

Mr Watson described Howard’s son, who is performing in Europe , as ‘a well-known personality’. The case was adjourned to July 11. 

The Kid Laroi – who takes his name from his Indigenous Kamilaroi ancestry – owes much of his success to Howard, whose musical tastes shaped her son’s and who closely manages his affairs. 

On Mother’s Day in 2020 he paid tribute to her as ‘the strongest woman I know’.

‘I’ve seen you literally put your own life on the line to make sure I always had the best, even in the worst [times],’ he said.

The Kid Laroi has previously described how his mother supported him and his younger brother Austin after her separation in 2007 from her husband, music producer Nick Howard.

Police allege 51-year-old Howard used the credit card details of a John Keith to pay for cosmetic services worth $849 from Laser Clinics Australia at Marrickville Metro Shopping Centre (above) on August 8, 2018

Police allege 51-year-old Howard used the credit card details of a John Keith to pay for cosmetic services worth $849 from Laser Clinics Australia at Marrickville Metro Shopping Centre (above) on August 8, 2018

After his parents parted ways Howard took her sons to Broken Hill in far western New South Wales where she set up a talent agency before returning to Sydney about 2017.

The Kid Laroi has spoken at length about his time in public housing and how his family was evicted from one block of units.

Since the Aria-winner broke through to global superstardom in 2020, his mother and Austin have lived in Los Angeles with him.

The now 18-year-old has gone on to record duets with Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber and recently signed with Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun.

He has a record contract with Columbia and has blasted people he claims have tried to ‘leech’ off his newfound fame and fortune. 

The Kid Laroi has blasted people he claims have tried to 'leech' off his newfound fame and fortune. He is the subject of a mural on a wall in Chapel Lane, Waterloo

The Kid Laroi has blasted people he claims have tried to ‘leech’ off his newfound fame and fortune. He is the subject of a mural on a wall in Chapel Lane, Waterloo

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