New York's federal prosecutors unsealed charges on Thursday against Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42, alleging they orchestrated a sophisticated fraud ring that weaponised AI-generated voices and deepfakes to impersonate senior executives and legal professionals. The scheme targeted employees at multiple institutions across North America and the United Kingdom, convincing them to authorise wire transfers totalling approximately $129 million.
Spanish authorities apprehended Soall and Hazan in June and August respectively, while UK police took Sheetrit into custody in September. The US Attorney's Office in Manhattan has requested extradition for all three defendants.
How the scheme operated
Operating between 2024 and 2026, the conspiracy followed a deliberate playbook. Perpetrators would contact company employees impersonating the chief executive, leveraging AI technology to replicate the executive's voice or facial features. During these calls, they would reference a confidential transaction requiring immediate attention.
The fraudsters would then instruct the employee to liaise with a purported attorney at a prominent international law firm. A second conspirator, posing as this lawyer, would supply banking coordinates for executing the large transfer. Prosecutors allege that Soall primarily assumed the role of UK-based legal counsel, maintaining documentation titled Lawyer Call containing his scripted dialogue.
Victims and money laundering
The victims spanned multiple sectors and geographies. A Missouri hospital network sustained losses of approximately $4.8 million, while a United Kingdom fintech enterprise lost about $11.6 million. Additional targets included a Rhode Island bank, a California hospital network, a Massachusetts mutual fund, and a Florida pet food manufacturer.
Prosecutors contend that Hazan and Sheetrit orchestrated the laundering of stolen funds. Money flowed into accounts across Spain, Greece, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and China before being converted into cryptocurrency to obscure its origins.
Charges and legal context
The three face multiple federal charges encompassing wire fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft. The most severe counts carry sentences of up to 20 years imprisonment. Hazan carries a prior conviction for bank fraud conspiracy from the same Manhattan court in 2008. All defendants are presumed innocent pending trial.
This prosecution reflects the escalating threat of AI-enabled fraud. A comparable but smaller scheme in 2019 saw criminals clone a CEO's voice to steal $243,000. Since that incident, impersonation scams leveraging artificial intelligence have proliferated significantly.
Source: The Next Web
