Police tried to locate The Kid Laroi’s mother for more than three years after she was accused of using fake credit card details to pay for lip filler worth $849.
Sloane Howard was sought by Sydney detectives while her teenage son rose to rap stardom in Australia then moved to Los Angeles and conquered the world.
Authorities finally caught up with the 51-year-old when she accompanied her then 18-year-old son – whose real name is Charlton Howard – on his 2022 Australian tour.
But when she was due to face a hearing at Downing Centre Local Court last week a charge of dishonestly obtaining a financial benefit by deception was suddenly withdrawn.
Police tried to locate The Kid Laroi’s mother for more than three years after she was accused of using fake credit card details to pay for lip filler worth $849. Sloane Howard was sought by Sydney detectives while her teenage son rose to rap stardom in Australia. Both are pictured
Court papers reveal the extent to which police tried to interview Howard as she moved between Sydney, Los Angeles and Broken Hill in far western New South Wales.
Howard was accused of booking an appointment at Laser Clinic Australia at Marrickville Metro shopping centre in Sydney’s inner-west about 12.30pm on August 8, 2018.
According to a police statement of facts, Howard was a past customer at the clinic and used her own name, phone number and email address to make the booking.
The mother-of-two was accused of using payment details for a Westpac Platinum credit card belonging to John Keith, owner of a hydraulic and civil services contracting company.
Howard allegedly arrived at the clinic about 5pm and received cosmetic injectable treatment on her lips performed by a Dr Suzanne O’Brien which cost $849.
The next month Mr Keith submitted a fraud report over the transaction and in January 2019 the owner of the clinic told police the woman who used the card was Howard.
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. He is pictured with girlfriend Katarina Deme in Beverly Hills in March 2022
Investigators allegedly matched photographs of Howard taken before and after the lip filler treatment with images on their computer database and began searching for her.
‘Police made attempts to locate the accused and offer her an interview regarding the offences,’ a statement of facts said.
‘Police attended the accused’s last known address however were informed the accused no longer resided there.
‘Police made further attempts of contact including attending various previous addresses for the accused however were unable to locate her.’
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.
He released his debut EP ’14 With a Dream’ the same month his mother was accused of defrauding the laser clinic, supported the late rapper Juice Wrld on his 2019 Australian tour.
‘In August 2019 police received information that the accused had left Australia and moved to Los Angeles, United States,’ the statement of facts said.
Sloane Howard, the mother of teenage rap sensation The Kid Laroi, has had a charge of dishonestly obtaining financial benefit by deception withdrawn. The singer is pictured with his mother and music producer father Nick Howard
‘Police made inquiries and confirmed that the accused had been travelling to Los Angeles, as well as Broken Hill, NSW.
‘Police made inquiries with Australian Border Force whose records confirmed the accused had returned to Australia at this time.’
Investigators continued to make further attempts to contact Howard up until May 2020 and put a warning on her police computer profile in case any officer encountered her.
When a court attendance notice was issued in October 2020 a statement of facts said: ‘At the time of writing this it is unknown to police where the accused resides.’
‘Police attended further addresses that were obtained via information requests made to Centrelink and the Australian Electoral Commission, however were unable to locate the accused.’
‘As a result of Australian Border Force inquiries police have confirmed the accused is no longer onshore in Australia and departed in December 2019 to Los Angeles, where she currently resides.’
Howard allegedly 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
Howard finally handed herself into police over the old fraud charge when she returned to Australia with her son for the local leg of a world tour.
She was charged at Sydney’s Day Street police station on May 26 last year with one count of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception and pleaded not guilty on May 30.
Her case was mentioned in Downing Centre Local Court on June 27 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.’
Mr Watson described Howard’s son, who was then performing in Europe, as ‘a well-known personality’.
When the matter was listed again on July 11 there was no still no sign of Howard.
Magistrate Susan McIntyre found the offence proven, convicted and fined Howard $1,000 and ordered her to pay $849 in compensation to Laser Clinic Australia.
The next day Howard sought to have that verdict vacated with a successful annulment application and her not guilty plea was restored.
Howard was listed to face a hearing on February 15 when she was represented by Mr Watson but the charge was dropped. She did not appear in court and no explanation was given for the charge being withdrawn.
A NSW Police spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday: ‘After a review of the evidence a decision was made by the NSW Police to withdraw the matter.’
The Kid Laroi has previously discussed the lengths his mother went to in supporting him and his younger brother Austin after her separation in 2007 from her husband, music producer Nick Howard.
He has spoken at about their time living in public housing at inner-city Waterloo and how his family was evicted from one block of units.
On Mother’s Day in 2020 he described his mother 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 wrote.
After she parted ways with her husband Howard took their sons to Broken Hill where she set up a talent agency before returning to Sydney about 2017.
Since The Kid Laroi broke through to global stardom in 2020, Howard and Austin have lived in Los Angeles with him.
The the Aria-winner has recorded duets with Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber and recently signed with Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun.
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