⏱ 3 min read
Two Boston-area men, Victor Kolawole and Keith Wainaina, were busted in a brazen bank heist that lasted over a year, netting them a cool $1.1M. The scam involved using fake IDs to withdraw cash from victims’ accounts.
From December 2022 to July 2025, Kolawole and Wainaina, along with an accomplice Phalentz Vernot, would obtain the personal info of bank customers, then use it to create fake IDs. They’d send in impostors, who’d withdraw cash in the form of cashier’s checks.
The checks were then deposited into accounts controlled by Kolawole and Wainaina, who’d use the funds to buy more cashier’s checks, payable to Vernot. Vernot would then use the money to pay off the impostors and bank insiders who helped facilitate the scheme.
Wainaina deposited over $762,000 in cashier’s checks, while Kolawole deposited around $373,000. Vernot pleaded guilty in December 2025 and is set to be sentenced in July 2026. Kolawole and Wainaina are scheduled to be sentenced in July and September 2026, respectively.
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📋 Key Facts
- Crime: White Collar Crime
- Defendant: Massachusetts
- Location: MA
- Source: DOJ Press Release
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