Three men have been indicted in New York over an alleged global fraud scheme in which artificial intelligence was used to impersonate company chief executives and lawyers, persuading businesses to transfer about $129 million.
Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42, are accused of targeting companies between 2024 and 2026. US prosecutors say the trio used synthetic voices and images to make employees believe they were speaking to senior executives during supposedly confidential financial transactions.
The defendants face charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Each count of wire fraud and money laundering carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, while the aggravated identity theft charges carry a mandatory maximum of two years, if they are convicted.
Alleged AI impersonation fraud
According to the indictment, the scheme generally began with an email purporting to come from a company’s chief executive. The employee would then be directed to join a telephone or video call, where the alleged fraudsters used AI to mimic the executive’s voice or appearance.
The employee was allegedly told to contact a lawyer working on the transaction. Prosecutors say the same group would then impersonate lawyers from major international firms before instructing the victim to send a large payment to an account controlled by members of the conspiracy.
The alleged victims included a hospital group in Missouri, a bank in Rhode Island, a California hospital system, a UK-based financial technology company, a Massachusetts mutual fund business and a Florida pet food company. One UK company is alleged to have lost more than $11.5 million.
Prosecutors say the money was transferred to accounts in countries including the United States, Spain, Portugal, Greece, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Austria, Slovakia and China. It was then converted into cryptocurrency in an alleged attempt to conceal its origin and ownership.
Soall is accused of primarily posing as UK-based lawyers and allegedly kept a handwritten document entitled “Lawyer Call” to help him sound like a solicitor. The indictment says the script included instructions intended to discourage employees from discussing the calls with colleagues.
Soall, who is described as being from Marbella and the UK, was arrested in Spain on June 17. Hazan, an Israeli national, was arrested there on August 5, while Sheetrit, who is linked to Israel and the United Arab Emirates, was arrested in the UK on September 7.
Extradition proceedings for all three are pending. Hazan had previously been convicted in the Southern District of New York of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in 2008, prosecutors said.
The FBI and US prosecutors have warned that emerging technology is increasingly being exploited to impersonate real people and deceive corporate employees. The charges remain allegations, and all three defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
