Three indicted over alleged $129 million fraud using AI impersonations
Prosecutors say three defendants, including two Israelis, impersonated executives and lawyers to persuade companies worldwide to transfer money.
By Evelyn Adeyemi ·
Three people, including two Israelis, have been indicted in New York over an alleged fraud scheme that used artificial intelligence to impersonate corporate executives and attorneys and steal about $129 million. Prosecutors announced the case Thursday, saying the defendants face wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering charges.
The indictment names Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42. It alleges that they targeted thousands of businesses around the world over a period exceeding a year and a half. Collectively, the defendants hold citizenship in Spain, the United Kingdom, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
Court documents identify victims across several industries and countries. They include hospital systems in Missouri and California, a Rhode Island bank, a British financial technology business, a Massachusetts mutual fund company and a Florida pet food company. The indictment was filed in a US District Court in New York.
According to prosecutors, the scheme focused on employees in corporate accounting departments. An email presented as a message from the company's chief executive would seek assistance with a confidential financial transaction. The defendants would also arrange a telephone or video conversation, using AI to imitate the executive's voice and, in some instances, appearance.
Employees were then directed to speak with an attorney supposedly working for a major law firm, court documents allege. That identity was another part of the impersonation scheme. Prosecutors said Soall primarily posed as British attorneys and used a handwritten script headed “Lawyer Call” to make his conversations with victims appear credible.
The purported lawyer would instruct an employee to send substantial wire payments to bank accounts in different parts of the world, according to the court filings. Prosecutors allege that the money was subsequently exchanged for cryptocurrency in an effort to obscure its origins, then divided among the three defendants and other participants.
The arrests took place between June and September, with Hazan and Soall detained in Spain and Sheetrit arrested in the United Kingdom. The US Attorney's Office said Hazan had previously been convicted in a New York court in 2008 of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Attorneys for Soall and Sheetrit did not immediately answer emailed requests for comment. Whether Hazan had legal representation was unclear. The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York also did not immediately return a voicemail from The Associated Press.
FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. said the allegations illustrate the use of advanced technology in large-scale fraud. According to the attorney's office, each charge carries a maximum prison term of 20 years upon conviction, apart from aggravated identity theft, which carries a two-year sentence.
