Indictment Targets AI-Enabled Business Email Compromise
Federal prosecutors in New York announced on November 5, 2026 the indictment of three men accused of using AI to impersonate CEOs and attorneys to steal about $129 million from companies worldwide. The case was brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York with the FBI.
The defendants are:
- Jacob Soall, 41
- Sharon Hazan, 54, previously convicted in 2008 of conspiracy to commit bank fraud
- Guy Sheetrit, 42
They are from Spain, the UK, Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and were arrested between June and September. They face charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.
How the Scheme Worked
Over roughly a year and a half, the group targeted thousands of companies:
- Email lure: messages posing as a CEO asked accounting staff for help with a confidential financial transaction.
- AI-assisted call: a phone or video call used AI to mimic the CEO's voice, and sometimes image.
- Fake attorney: victims were passed to an impersonated lawyer at a major law firm. Soall mainly posed as a UK attorney and followed a scripted "Lawyer Call."
- Wire transfer: victims sent large payments to bank accounts around the world.
- Laundering: funds were converted to cryptocurrency and distributed to the defendants and others.
Reported victims include hospital systems in Missouri and California, a Rhode Island bank, a UK fintech, a Massachusetts mutual fund company and a Florida pet food company.
Potential Penalties
Each charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, except aggravated identity theft, which carries a maximum of 2 years.
Defensive Lessons
- Require out-of-band verification (a known number, not one supplied in the email) for any unusual or confidential payment request.
- Enforce dual approval and callback procedures for wires, especially for new beneficiaries or international accounts.
- Train finance and accounting staff that a familiar voice or face on a call is no longer proof of identity.
- Treat "confidential deal, do not tell anyone" framing as a red flag.
- Report fraudulent wires to your bank and the FBI IC3 immediately, since fast recall requests improve recovery odds.