NEW YORK — Three men have been indicted on charges they used artificial intelligence to impersonate corporate chief executives and prominent lawyers, persuading employees at businesses and financial institutions to transfer approximately $129 million to accounts controlled by the alleged conspirators, federal prosecutors said.
The indictment, unsealed in federal court in Manhattan, names Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42. Prosecutors allege the scheme operated from July 2024 through February 2026 and targeted thousands of companies worldwide, according to court documents and reporting by The Associated Press.
The defendants allegedly approached accounting and finance employees while posing as their companies’ CEOs, describing urgent, confidential transactions. On calls, the conspirators used AI-generated voices and sometimes images to make the impersonation convincing, then directed employees to purported attorneys at major law firms. The supposed lawyers, also impersonated, instructed employees to send large wire transfers, prosecutors said.
Banks, Hospital Hit
Among the alleged losses were $2.68 million from a Rhode Island bank, $4.83 million from a Missouri hospital system, $2.97 million from a California hospital system, $11.58 million from a British financial technology company, $4.64 million from a Massachusetts mutual fund company and $5.24 million from a Florida pet food company, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York.
American Banker reported that the alleged conspirators persuaded a Rhode Island bank employee to send about $2.68 million in November 2024. The publication also reported that a New York investment bank stopped a separate attempted transfer of approximately $2.85 million in October 2024 before the funds left the institution.
Money Moved Through Multiple Countries
After receiving the transfers, the defendants and their associates allegedly moved money through accounts in multiple countries, including the United States, Spain, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and China, and converted proceeds into cryptocurrency to conceal their origin and ownership.
Prosecutors said Soall primarily posed as British attorneys and kept a handwritten script labeled “Lawyer Call” that included language intended to discourage employees from discussing the purported transactions with colleagues. Hazan and Sheetrit also allegedly helped launder proceeds.
Arrests in Spain, Britain
Soall and Hazan were arrested in Spain in June and August, respectively, while Sheetrit was arrested in Britain in September. U.S. extradition requests remain pending. The defendants face charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Hazan was previously convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in 2008, prosecutors said.
The case highlights how voice cloning and synthetic video can strengthen longstanding business-email-compromise schemes by making fraudulent instructions appear to come from trusted executives. The Associated Press reported that the defendants often targeted accounting departments and reinforced their demands with purportedly confidential legal transactions.
The charges are allegations, and all three defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
