Kerr Kriisa, a college basketball player who suited up for four programs — Arizona, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Cincinnati — was indicted Monday by the Northern District of West Virginia on charges alleging he ran a $2.2 million fraud scheme.
Court documents outline five counts against the 25-year-old, and federal prosecutors are seeking a financial judgment equal to the alleged proceeds of the scheme, as well as any property purchased with those funds.
According to the United States Department of Justice, Kriisa is accused of using false representations, fabricated identities, and deceptive communications to obtain money from at least two victims.
Kentucky Sports Radio reported that the FBI arrested Kriisa last week.
The indictment alleges Kriisa “falsely representing that he and his family faced imminent danger if a victim of his fraudulent scheme did not send him money to pay a debt.” Prosecutors also allege he directed one victim to send a payment to another victim while posing under the fake name “Irene.”
Originally from Estonia, Kriisa played professionally in Lithuania and Germany before coming to the United States for college basketball. He spent three seasons at Arizona, where he began his college career as a guard.
The DOJ alleges the fraudulent operation began while Kriisa was living in Tucson in 2022 and that he was still engaged in the scheme as recently as last month.
During the 2023-24 season at West Virginia, Kriisa averaged a career-best 11 points per game, though he also served a nine-game suspension that year stemming from impermissible benefits he received while at Arizona. He then transferred to Kentucky for the 2024-25 season and Cincinnati for the 2025-26 season. Over his college career, Kriisa appeared in 127 games — starting 106 of them — averaging 8.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 28.1 minutes per contest.
