Three Foreign Nationals Charged in Alleged $129M AI Impersonation Fraud Scheme

Three foreign nationals have been charged in connection with an alleged international fraud scheme that federal prosecutors say used AI technology to impersonate corporate executives and attorneys and steal more than $129 million. Jacob Soall was arrested in Spain in June, Sharon Hazan was arrested in Spain in August and Guy Sheetrit was arrested in the United Kingdom in September, prosecutors said.

How prosecutors say the scheme worked

The scheme allegedly ran from July 2024 to February 2026. The trio and their co-conspirators allegedly told employees, typically in accounting departments, that they needed help with a confidential financial transaction and used AI technology to mimic a company CEO's voice. While pretending to be the CEO, they allegedly told employees to contact attorneys at large international law firms who they said were also working on the transactions, but prosecutors said those "attorneys" were also part of the scheme. Finally, one person involved allegedly instructed the employee to wire large amounts of money to bank accounts set up worldwide, and the group then converted the cash into cryptocurrency in an attempt to conceal the source, ownership and control of the stolen proceeds and distribute it among themselves and co-conspirators.

Victims, charges and backgrounds

The U.S. attorney's office alleges the scheme stole more than $129 million from companies worldwide, including an investment bank in New York, a hospital system in Missouri, a bank in Rhode Island, a hospital system in California, a financial technology company in the U.K., a mutual fund company in Massachusetts and a pet food company in Florida. Soall, from Spain and the U.K., who went by "Rocky Balboa" and "Seba Clarke," impersonated U.K. attorneys and used a script titled "Lawyer Call," according to the release. Hazan, from Israel, who used the nicknames "Superman Cash," "Impossible Mission," "Fat Boy" and "Ron," laundered money from the scheme, and prosecutors allege that he boasted that he had been laundering money since 1994, that he had laundered over $400 million in just the past three years and that, among professional money launderers, he was "number one all over the world." Hazan was also convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in the Southern District of New York in 2008. Sheetrit, from Israel and the United Arab Emirates, is also accused of laundering funds. All three have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft, money laundering conspiracy and two counts of money laundering, and each of the seven charges carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

Prosecutor's comment

U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said in the release: "SI technology offers tremendous potential. But the public should recognize that there are some who seek to use this emerging technology to pursue criminal goals. I encourage individuals and the business community to consider how to best protect themselves from the emerging threat of SI-enabled crime." The release said "SI" is an abbreviation for super intelligence, the White House's preferred term for artificial intelligence.

Sources: NBC News