Leah B. Foley United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts | Department of Justice
Two Massachusetts residents, Victor Kolawole of Brockton and Keith Wainaina of Lowell, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston on Apr. 28 to their roles in a multi-million-dollar scheme that defrauded banks across Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
The case is significant due to the scale of the fraud and its impact on local financial institutions. Prosecutors said Kolawole and Wainaina conspired with others beginning no later than December 2022 to obtain personal information from bank customers without authorization. They used fake identification documents to withdraw large sums from victims’ accounts, then laundered the funds through additional cashier’s checks.
According to court records, Wainaina deposited or attempted to deposit more than $762,000 into accounts he controlled using cashier’s checks drawn on victims’ accounts. Kolawole deposited approximately $373,000 under similar circumstances. Phalentz Vernot, another conspirator who pleaded guilty in December 2025, was responsible for obtaining customer information and facilitating withdrawals by recruiting imposters. Some funds were also used to pay insiders at banks who bypassed verification protocols.
Sentencings for Kolawole and Wainaina are scheduled for July 23 and Sept. 9 respectively. The charges carry maximum penalties of up to 30 years in prison for bank fraud-related offenses and up to 20 years for money laundering conspiracy. Aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley announced the pleas alongside officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston and New Haven divisions. Assistance came from several local police departments as well as state police agencies.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts is part of the United States Department of Justice according to its official website. The office enforces federal laws through prosecutions involving national security threats and civil rights violations according to its official website, serves all residents statewide according to its official website, advances community initiatives focused on civil rights protection and violence prevention according to its official website, employs over 200 attorneys, paralegals, and professional staff according to its official website, maintains facilities at courthouses in Boston as well as branch offices in Springfield and Worcester according to its official website, handles both criminal prosecutions and civil litigation for the United States government statewide while promoting public safety since tracing origins back to 1789 as one of America’s earliest such entities according to its official website.
