Crime

Mass. men plead guilty to roles in multi-million dollar bank fraud scheme

The men admitted guilt on charges of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

May 3, 2026 | 9:39 AM

1 minute to read

Two men pleaded guilty Friday to their roles in a multi-million dollar bank fraud scheme, according to federal prosecutors.

Victor Kolawole, 26, of Brockton and Keith Wainaina, 24, of Lowell, pleaded guilty to bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a statement. They are scheduled to be sentenced July 23 and Sept. 9, respectively.

Kolawole and Wainaina were arrested in July 2025 along with four other men, including Phalentz Vernot, who pleaded guilty in December 2025 and is scheduled to be sentenced July 22. In about December 2022, they began carrying out their scheme to defraud local banks in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, prosecutors said.

Vernot gained access to identifying information for several customers at these banks, including their names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and account numbers. He and Wainaina then brought in people to pose as the customers so they could fraudulently withdraw the money, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The two men drove the impostors to the banks and produced fake identification documents with the customers’ names and the impostors’ photos. Using these false documents, they withdrew large sums from the accounts as cashier’s checks, according to prosecutors.

Kolawole and Wainaina then deposited the checks into bank accounts they controlled and used the funds to purchase more cashier’s checks payable to Vernot, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Vernot then paid the impostors who posed as customers and bank insiders who helped to facilitate their scheme by intentionally skipping customer verification procedures.

Wainaina deposited or attempted to deposit more than $762,000 in fraudulently obtained cashier’s checks, prosecutors said. Kolawole deposited approximately $373,000 in fraudulently obtained cashier’s checks.

Both men face up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and fines of $1 million or twice the gross gain or loss on the charges of bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, according to prosecutors. For the money laundering conspiracy charge, they face up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of either $500,000 or twice the amount involved in the laundering.