Former Kentucky guard Kerr Kriisa indicted on alleged $2.2 million fraud scheme
Former college basketball player Kerr Kriisa has been indicted in connection with an alleged $2.2 million fraud scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of West Virginia.
The Estonian national has been arrested and is set to appear in federal court this week on five counts of wire fraud.
Court documents reveal that from 2022 to 2026 Kriisa allegedly carried out a scheme to obtain nearly $2.2 million "from multiple victims using false representations, fabricated identities, and deceptive communications."
The former Kentucky player allegedly posed as a combination of fictional people and family members and claimed that he and his family were in danger and needed financial support. One example was that he would say his mother needed cancer treatment.
The deceit ran so deep that Kriisa also lied about how he would repay the victims. He allegedly told one victim that he intended to sell his organs to repay her.
U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey said about this type of case that, "Financial fraud schemes erode trust and cause real harm to victims who believed they were helping someone in need."
Kriisa allegedly requested repeated payments from two victims and even had one victim send money to the other under false pretenses. "The indictment describes numerous emails and text messages sent as part of the scheme, including five specific wire transmissions tied to the charged counts."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jarod Douglas is prosecuting the case, and the FBI is also conducting an investigation.
Kriisa, 25, began his college basketball career in 2020 at the University of Arizona. After three seasons with the Wildcats, he transferred to West Virginia. The guard was with the Mountaineers for one season, then transferred to Kentucky and later to Cincinnati, playing one season at each stop.
Overall, he played in 127 collegiate games, starting 106. Kriisa averaged 8.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.
