Massachusetts Men Plead Guilty in Multi-Million-Dollar Bank Fraud Case

_{Photo credit: PabloLagarto / Shutterstock.com}

Two Massachusetts men have pleaded guilty in a Boston federal court to charges related to their role in a multi-million-dollar bank fraud and money laundering ring. The scheme targeted banks across Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said Victor Kolawole, 26, and Keith Wainaina, 24, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Their sentencing hearings have been scheduled for July 23 and September 9, 2026, respectively.

A total of six men were arrested in connection with the bank fraud ring in July 2025.

According to federal prosecutors, the scheme began around December 2022. Kolawole and Wainaina conspired with Phalentz Vernot, who pleaded guilty in December 2025, and others to steal from customer accounts at local banks. 

Vernot is said to have fraudulently obtained victims’ personal and banking information, including names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and bank account numbers. The group then recruited impostors to pose as the defrauded customers, using fake identification documents bearing the victims’ names but the impostors’ photographs.

The impostors were then driven to bank branches, where they used the fake IDs to withdraw large sums of money from victims’ accounts in the form of cashier’s checks. Wainaina and Kolawole then deposited those checks into accounts they controlled before using the proceeds to buy more cashier’s checks payable to Vernot.

Prosecutors state Vernot used part of the money to pay the impostors, as well as bank insiders who conspired with the group to facilitate the fraud, intentionally bypassing customer verification procedures.

Wainaina deposited or attempted to deposit more than $762,000 in cashier’s checks stolen from victims’ accounts, while Kolawole deposited approximately $373,000. Vernot also pleaded guilty in December 2025 and is due to be sentenced on July 22, 2026.

Bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Conspiracy to commit money laundering carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.