It was announced that Former Estonian NCAA basketball player and Cincinnati Bearcat guard Kerr Kriisa, was arrested by the FBI on Thursday, July 3rd, in Lexington, Kentucky. Kriisa spent the 2025-26 season with the Cincinnati Bearcats, his sixth season playing college basketball. To start his career, he played for Tommy Lloyd at Arizona from 2020-23 before transferring to West Virginia for a season and then to Kentucky and finally Cincinnati.
Kriisa was brought to federal court in northern West Virginia, where some of the charges of wire fraud took place. He is being charged with 5 counts of wire fraud. According to the indictment, the scheme began in 2022 while he was at the University of Arizona, continuing until he was arrested on July 3rd. Kriisa targeted at least two victims and obtained nearly $2.2 million through fraudulent representation. Prosecutors say that Kriisa continuously lied to victims, saying his family was in imminent physical danger unless debts were paid, his mother needed cancer treatment, and that his family's farm/property required immediate financial assistance. Kriisa allegedly didn't communicate only as himself. Prosecutors say he pretended to be family members, including his mother, and invented a woman named "Irene" who sent emails and text messages to victims to tell them that Kriisa's stories were true and to convince them to send money. There are some alleged attempts by Kriisa to repay the money. In April 2025, he allegedly signed an agreement with one of the victims, promising to repay $100,000.
If Kriisa were convicted on all 5 counts of wire fraud, he would be looking at a maximum sentence of 100 years, although that is not likely to be the sentence he receives. It is speculated online that he serves for 20-60 years, but we won't know for sure until it is all over.
There are no gambling related charges in the Kerr Kriisa indictment and all charges have to do with fraudulent schemes to get money from victims, including posing as his own mother asking for money
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) July 6, 2026
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