Former West Virginia men’s basketball player Kerr Kriisa has been charged by The Federal Bureau of Investigation with five counts of wire fraud in an alleged scheme of $2.2 million.
According to an indictment unsealed Monday, the 25-year-old Kriisa allegedly attempted to obtain money from multiple victims using false representations, fabricated identities and deceptive communications from 2022 through June 2, 2026 in Monongalia County and elsewhere.
Kriisa, who played one season for the Mountaineers in 2023-24 among six altogether at four Power Conference programs throughout his college basketball career, is alleged to have posed as various individuals, including fictional contacts and family members, while falsely claiming he and his family were in danger, his mother was in need of cancer treatment or family property required urgent financial support.
A native of Estonia who played his first three seasons at Arizona and more recently one each at Kentucky and Cincinnati, Kriisa allegedly requested repeated payments from two victims as well as directing one victim to send money to the other under false pretenses, according to the indictment, which describes a series of emails and text messages sent as part of the scheme as well as five specific wire transmissions tied to the charge counts.
“Financial fraud schemes erode trust and cause real harm to victims who believed they were helping someone in need,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey. “Our office will continue to pursue individuals who exploit others through deception. We are committed to holding them accountable for their actions.”
According to the indictment, Kriisa falsely told a victim he intended to sell his organs for money to repay her in November 2022.
The indictment also alleges that over a period from 2022 through 2024, Kriisa posed as his mother and emailed a victim requesting money to pay for his mother’s alleged cancer treatments. During that same time frame, Kriisa, again posing as his mother, is alleged to have emailed the same victim requesting money to help save a family farm.
In April 2025, Kriisa is alleged to have signed a written agreement that he promised to repay a victim $100,000 by February 2026, which prosecutors say was also fraudulent.
The government is seeking forfeiture of any proceeds traceable to the alleged offenses, including a money judgment of approximately $2.2 million.
After his three seasons with the Wildcats, Kriisa committed to play for West Virginia in April 2023. Ten weeks later, then-WVU head coach Bob Huggins resigned in the wake of a DUI arrest.
With Huggins no longer coaching, Kriisa entered the transfer portal in June, but days later, he reversed that decision and chose to stick with the Mountaineers after Josh Eilert was named interim head coach.
On Halloween of 2023, it was announced Kriisa would be suspended for the first nine games of the 2023-24 campaign for receiving impermissible benefits during his time at Arizona.
Kriisa went on to start the remaining 23 games for a WVU team that finished 9-23 and failed to win once in 14 tries away from Morgantown. He averaged 11 points and 4.7 in his lone season with the Mountaineers before transferring to Kentucky.
Kriisa’s only season with the Wildcats was cut short due to injury after playing in nine games.
The guard was again hampered by injury last season and played in 19 games, while starting 12 for Cincinnati in what marked his final go-around at the collegiate level.
Kriisa is to appear in federal court this week in West Virginia on the five counts of wire fraud.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jarod Douglas is prosecuting the case.