A federal indictment accuses the former NCAA guard of using false stories and fake identities to obtain money from two victims. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The Estonian basketball player Kerr Kriisa has been charged in the United States over an alleged fraud scheme that prosecutors say obtained more than $2.2 million from two victims.
Kriisa, 25, a former guard for Arizona, West Virginia, Kentucky and Cincinnati, was arrested by FBI agents in Kentucky on Friday, 3 July. He is expected to be extradited to West Virginia, where the federal case has been brought.
According to a newly released indictment, Kriisa faces five counts of wire fraud, a federal offence involving alleged fraud carried out through electronic communications such as emails and text messages.
The indictment alleges that the scheme began in 2022 and continued until June 2026. Prosecutors say Kriisa obtained money by using false stories, false identities and repeated requests for payment.
Kriisa is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
What prosecutors allege
The indictment says Kriisa told one victim that he and his family were in danger unless money was sent to pay a debt. He is also accused of claiming that his mother needed cancer treatment, that the family farm needed saving, and that he might sell his organs to repay money.
Prosecutors further allege that Kriisa posed as other people, including his mother and a fictional person called “Irene”, to request more money.
Kerr Kriisa shoots for Arizona during his US college basketball career. Photo by Marc-Grégor Campredon, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The indictment also alleges that Kriisa used one victim as a go-between, telling another victim to send money to that person so it could be passed on to him.
The five formal charges are tied to specific emails and text messages allegedly sent in February 2026. The US government is seeking the forfeiture of at least $2.2 million, which prosecutors say represents proceeds from the alleged fraud.
The indictment does not include sports-betting or bribery charges, despite earlier speculation online.
A homecoming overshadowed
The case has stunned Estonian basketball. Kriisa had only recently signed with the University of Tartu Maks & Moorits basketball club, the reigning Estonian champions, in what was expected to mark the start of his professional career at home after six years in the United States.
Janar Talts, the sporting director of Tartu Ülikool Maks & Moorits, told Estonian media that the news had come as a shock.
Kerr Kriisa (right) during his Arizona Wildcats years, before later spells with West Virginia, Kentucky and Cincinnati. Photo by Marc-Grégor Campredon, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Kriisa had also been due to play this month in The Basketball Tournament, a summer competition in the United States, for La Familia, the University of Kentucky alumni team. He has since been removed from the roster.
The Estonian Basketball Association has said it learned of the case through the media and had no further information to add.
From Tartu to the NCAA
Born in Tartu in 2001, Kriisa was long regarded as one of Estonia’s brightest basketball prospects. He made his Estonian top-flight debut for Tartu Ülikool in 2016 at the age of 15 before moving abroad, first to Germany and then to the system of the Lithuanian club Žalgiris Kaunas.
He moved to the United States in 2020, joining the University of Arizona. Over the next six years he played for four major college programmes: Arizona, West Virginia, Kentucky and Cincinnati.
His most productive NCAA season came at West Virginia in 2023-24, when he averaged 11 points, 4.7 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game. He later moved to Kentucky and then Cincinnati, where he averaged 5.8 points and three assists over 19 games in his final college season.
Across his college career, Kriisa played 127 games, starting 106 of them, and averaged 8.8 points, 4.4 assists and 2.2 rebounds.
Kriisa has also represented Estonia at youth level and was part of the senior national team at the 2022 European Championship, where he was seen as one of the country’s emerging leaders.
What had been framed only days ago as a return to Tartu has now become a federal criminal case in West Virginia.
Editor’s note: This article was first published on 5 July 2026 and updated on 6 July 2026.
