Three Men Charged in AI-Assisted Impersonation Fraud
The U.S. Justice Department has indicted three men over a business email compromise-style scheme that used AI to impersonate executives and lawyers. The U.S. Attorney's Office says it obtained about $129 million. The U.S. is working to extradite the defendants from Europe.
The Defendants
| Name | Age | Nationality | Reported role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jacob Soall | 41 | Spanish | Typically played the fake "lawyers" using a script |
| Sharon Hazan | 54 | Israeli | Handled money laundering |
| Guy Sheetrit | 42 | Israeli | Co-defendant |
Soall and Hazan were arrested in Spain, and Sheetrit was detained in the U.K. Extradition requests for all three are pending. Prosecutors say the conspiracy ran from 2024 to 2026 and involved other co-conspirators.
How the Scheme Worked
- The group posed as a company CEO or as lawyers and contacted lower-level employees about a confidential financial transaction.
- In some cases, employees spoke with fake "lawyers" from a large international firm.
- The group used AI to spoof the voices and images of real executives and lawyers on calls and video.
- Employees were told to wire large payments to accounts the defendants controlled.
- Funds moved through accounts in the U.S., Europe, the UAE, and China, then into cryptocurrency.
Reported Victim Losses
- About $5 million from a Missouri hospital
- $2.6 million from a Rhode Island bank
- $2.9 million from a California hospital
- $11.5 million from a U.K. tech company
- $4.6 million from a Massachusetts finance company
- $5.2 million from a Florida pet food company
Charges
The defendants face money laundering, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, and other charges. Together they face up to 104 years in prison.
Defensive Takeaways
- Out-of-band verification for any payment request tied to a confidential deal, using a known phone number, never one supplied in the request.
- Dual approval for wires above a set threshold, with no exception for urgent executive requests.
- Train finance and junior staff that voice and video can now be faked convincingly.
- Treat secrecy as a red flag. Requests to avoid normal channels should trigger escalation.