A former college basketball standout is facing serious federal charges after a grand jury accused him of swindling nearly $2.2 million from two people through an elaborate web of lies and impersonations.
Kerr Kriisa, a 25-year-old, 6-foot-3 guard originally from Estonia, was indicted by a federal grand jury in West Virginia last month. The case became public Monday after federal agents arrested him in Kentucky on Saturday. He is expected to appear in federal court in West Virginia this week to face five counts of wire fraud.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Harvey announced the charges, stating: “Financial fraud schemes erode trust and cause real harm to victims who believed they were helping someone in need.”
Kriisa built a notable college basketball career, beginning at Arizona in 2020 where he became a crowd favorite known for his aggressive play and shooting from beyond the arc. He led the Pac-12 in assists over his two full seasons there before transferring to West Virginia, where he was suspended for the first nine games of his only season after admitting to receiving improper benefits while at Arizona.
He later transferred to Kentucky in 2024, but a foot injury limited him to just nine games. His final year of eligibility took him to Cincinnati, where he started 12 games before a separated shoulder ended his season in February.
According to the indictment, the fraudulent activity stretched from 2022 through June 2 of this year. During that time, Kriisa allegedly pretended to be other people — including his own mother — and falsely claimed that he and his family were in desperate need of money to handle urgent emergencies.
In one instance from August 2022, Kriisa allegedly told a victim he had secured a loan to pay her back, and then months later claimed he was planning to sell his organs to raise repayment funds. Between 2022 and 2024, he allegedly contacted that same victim while posing as his mother, requesting money for cancer treatments and to rescue the family’s farm.
In April 2025, Kriisa reportedly signed a written agreement falsely promising to repay that victim $100,000 by February 2026.
A second victim was targeted from November 2025 through early February of this year, with Kriisa allegedly reaching out repeatedly for money while sometimes pretending to be a fictional individual named “Irene.”
