College Basketball Star Kerr Kriisa Arrested for Alleged $2.2 Million Fraud
Former University of Kentucky men's basketball star Kerr Kriisa has been arrested by the FBI in connection with an alleged multimillion-dollar fraud scheme.
Kriisa, 25, was taken into custody on the evening of Friday, July 3, the Fayette County Detention Center confirmed to local outlet WKYT. He is being held at the facility in Lexington, Kentucky, and will be extradited to West Virginia for an initial hearing, according to Kentucky Sports Radio (KSR). Bail has not yet been set.
The alleged crime took place between 2022 and June 2026, the Department of Justice stated in a press release on Monday, July 6.
Kriisa "allegedly carried out a scheme to obtain nearly $2.2 million from multiple victims using false representations, fabricated identities, and deceptive communications," according to the release.
The DOJ claims that Kriisa "requested repeated payments from two victims and, at times, directed one victim to send money to the other under false pretenses," with the indictment citing emails and text messages sent as part of the alleged scheme, as well as wire transmissions tied to the charged counts.
The athlete allegedly convinced one reported victim to send him money by claiming his mother had cancer and needed treatment. He allegedly posed as his mother in another scheme and told a victim that he needed money to "save" his family's farm.
He also allegedly posed as a woman named "Irene" to sign a fraudulent promise to repay one of the victims $100,000 by a February deadline, according to the indictment.
Kriisa was indicted on five counts of wire fraud.
"Financial fraud schemes erode trust and cause real harm to victims who believed they were helping someone in need," U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey said in the DOJ's release. "Our office will continue to pursue individuals who exploit others through deception. We are committed to holding them accountable for their actions."
The government seeks "forfeiture of any proceeds traceable to the alleged offenses, including a money judgment of approximately $2.2 million" against Kriisa.
Us Weekly reached out to the Fayette County Detention Center and the FBI's Louisville bureau for comment.
Kriisa is an Estonian point guard who spent three years playing college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats before transferring to the West Virginia Mountaineers in 2023. He later moved on to the Kentucky Wildcats before finishing out his college career with the Cincinnati Bearcats in 2025.
Days before his arrest, Kriisa was announced as a member of LaFamilia, the University of Kentucky's alumni team, which is competing in The Basketball Tournament (TBT) this summer. La Familia previously announced that Kriisa would make his debut in a best-of-three series against The Ville, a Louisville alumni squad, starting July 18 at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington.
The team has since announced that Kriisa will no longer appear in the tournament.
"We're aware of the allegations regarding Kerr Kriisa. Kerr will not be competing with La Familia during the TBT Tournament. We will have no further comment," the organization wrote via X on Saturday, July 4.
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This story was originally published July 6, 2026 at 2:32 PM.