Two Massachusetts men pled guilty in federal court in Boston to their participation in a multimillion-dollar bank fraud operation spanning Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
According to a press statement from the Massachusetts Department of Justice, Victor Kolawole, 26, of Brockton, and Keith Wainaina, 24, of Lowell, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct bank fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. U.S. District Court Judge Julie Kobick has scheduled sentencings for July 23, 2026, and September 9, 2026, respectively. Wainaina and Kolawole were arrested in July 2025, along with four other individuals.
Beginning in December 2022, Kolawole and Wainaina planned with Phalentz Vernot and others to defraud local banks. Vernot got, without consent, the names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and bank account numbers of customers at many local institutions. Vernot and Wainaina then selected individuals to impersonate these customers and obtained counterfeit identification documents bearing the victim customers’ names but the imposters’ photographs. Vernot and Wainaina then drove the imposters to banks, where they showed bogus identification documents and withdrew significant quantities of money from the victim customers’ accounts using cashier’s checks. Wainaina and Kolawole then deposited the checks into bank accounts they controlled, using the proceeds to buy more cashier’s checks payable to Vernot. Vernot utilized some of the money to pay people acting as bank clients and bank insiders who helped them carry out their operation, including purposefully evading customer verification measures. Wainaina deposited, or attempted to deposit, more than $762,000 in cashier’s checks drawn on victims’ accounts into bank accounts under his control. Kolawole transferred roughly $373,000 in cashier’s checks written on victims’ accounts to bank accounts he controlled.
Vernot pleaded guilty in December 2025 and is set for sentencing on July 22, 2026.
The accusations of bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud carry a maximum term of 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine or double the gross gain or loss, whichever is larger. The crime of conspiracy to commit money laundering carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000 or double the amount involved in the laundering transactions, whichever is greater. The crime of aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory two-year jail sentence in addition to any sentence earned for the other charges. A federal district court judge imposes sentences based on the United States Sentencing Guidelines and the legislation that governs sentence determination in criminal cases.
United States Attorney Leah Foley, Ted Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, and P.J. O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New Haven Division, delivered the announcements. The Connecticut State Police, as well as the police departments of Gloucester (R.I.), Sutton, Concord (Mass.), Dracut, Westwood, and Abington, gave valuable help. Kristen Kearney, Assistant United States Attorney for the Securities, Financial, and Cyber Fraud Unit, is prosecuting the case.
Leave a Reply