Ex-Kentucky guard Kriisa indicted in $2.2M fraud scheme
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Kerr Kriisa, a 6-foot-3 Estonian guard, was arrested and indicted on a $2.2 million fraud scheme the DOJ announced Monday, with the government seeking forfeiture of all proceeds traceable to the alleged offenses.
- Kriisa allegedly ran a four-year scheme using false representations, fabricated identities, and deceptive communications to obtain money from multiple victims, including posing as his mother to claim the family's farm needed saving.
- In one alleged scheme, Kriisa told a victim his mother had cancer and needed treatment money; in another, he impersonated a woman named "Irene" to sign a fraudulent promise to repay one victim $100,000 by a February deadline.
- Kriisa played at Kentucky, Arizona, West Virginia, and Cincinnati over six seasons, averaging 5.8 PPG and 3.0 APG for Cincinnati last season before a separated shoulder ended his 2025-26 campaign.
- U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey said in the DOJ release that "financial fraud schemes erode trust and cause real harm to victims who believed they were helping someone in need," pledging to hold Kriisa accountable.
- Kriisa competed in just 127 games over six seasons due to multiple injuries throughout his college career.
Why it matters: The DOJ is seeking forfeiture of the full $2.2 million, making Kriisa personally liable for every dollar he allegedly extracted — and the indictment details a sustained four-year manipulation of victims who believed they were funding cancer treatment or saving a family farm. For college basketball, this adds another high-profile federal case to a decade-long pattern of DOJ indictments against players and coaches in fraud, gambling, and bribery schemes.
