3 charged, including 2 Israelis, for using AI impersonations to steal $129 million

NEW YORK — Three people accused of using artificial intelligence to impersonate corporate executives and attorneys in order to steal about $129 million have been indicted on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, prosecutors said Thursday.

Two of the defendants are Israeli. Between them, the three hold citizenship in Spain, the UK, Israel and the United Arab Emirates. They were also charged with money laundering, according to the indictment.

Over more than a year and a half, Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42, targeted thousands of companies across the world in their AI scheme, according to the indictment filed in a US District Court in New York.

Their victims included hospital systems in Missouri and California, a bank in Rhode Island, a financial technology company in the United Kingdom, a mutual fund company in Massachusetts and a pet food company in Florida, according to court documents.

Lawyers for Soall and Sheetrit did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. It was not clear whether Hazan had an attorney. The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York did not immediately respond to a voicemail left by The Associated Press.

The three were arrested between June and September — Hazan and Soall in Spain, and Sheetrit in the UK. In 2008, Hazan was convicted in a New York court of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, according to the US Attorney’s Office.

The trio, who allegedly have nicknames that include “Rocky Balboa,” “Superman Cash,” and “Fat Boy,” are accused of targeting the companies’ accounting departments. They would send an email purporting to be from the CEO and ask for help with a confidential financial transaction, according to court documents.

They would also coordinate a phone or video call where the defendants used AI to mimic the voice and sometimes the image of the CEO, according to the indictment. The defendants would then tell them to contact an attorney at a major law firm, who the group was also ready to impersonate, according to court documents.

Soall mainly impersonated attorneys from the UK and had a “handwritten script titled ‘Lawyer Call’ that he utilized to make himself seem like a real attorney when speaking with and defrauding victims,” according to the US Attorney’s Office.

The impersonated attorney would tell the employee to wire large payments to bank accounts across the world, according to court documents. The funds were then converted into cryptocurrency to try to conceal where they came from and then distributed to the trio and others involved, according to court documents.

FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. said the case shows how advanced technology can be used to commit large-scale fraud.

“As criminals continue to weaponize emerging technologies, the FBI remains committed to rapidly adapting our capabilities to identify, investigate, and disrupt those who seek to harm New Yorkers and businesses operating in our communities,” he said in a statement.

If convicted, each of the charges has a maximum sentence of 20 years, except for aggravated identity theft, which has a sentence of two years, according to the attorney’s office.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.