New York, New York: Three Charged in AI Impersonation Scheme That Prosecutors Say Stole $129 Million

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan unsealed an indictment on Thursday, Nov. 5, charging three foreign nationals with using artificial intelligence to impersonate corporate executives and law firm attorneys and steal about $129 million from companies around the world.

Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42, were arrested in Spain and the United Kingdom earlier this year and are awaiting extradition to the United States, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said. The charges are allegations, and the three are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Fake executives, fake lawyers, real wires

According to the indictment, the scheme ran from 2024 into 2026 and targeted thousands of companies. Prosecutors say the group used AI tools to copy the voices, and at times the images, of chief executives at victim companies and of attorneys at major law firms. An employee would get what looked like a confidential request from a top executive, then a call in the executive's cloned voice, then payment instructions from a supposed lawyer. The employee would wire a large sum to a bank account controlled by members of the conspiracy.

U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said AI technology "offers tremendous potential" but warned that some people use it for criminal goals. James C. Barnacle Jr., the FBI assistant director in charge in New York, said the case shows how new technology can be turned to fraud at large scale.

Hospitals, a bank and a pet food company among the losses

Prosecutors put the total taken at more than $129 million. The indictment lists individual losses that include $4,829,580 from a hospital system based in Missouri, $2,684,580 from a bank based in Rhode Island, $2,968,497 from a hospital system based in California, $11,578,474 from a financial technology company based in the United Kingdom, $4,639,918 from a mutual fund company based in Massachusetts, and $5,242,747 from a pet food company based in Florida.

Arrests in Spain and Britain

Soall, of Marbella, Spain, and the United Kingdom, was arrested in Spain on June 17, 2026. He used the aliases Seba Clarke and Rocky Balboa, prosecutors said. Hazan, of Israel, was arrested in Spain on Aug. 5, 2026. Sheetrit, of Israel and the United Arab Emirates, was arrested in the United Kingdom on Sept. 7, 2026. Extradition requests for all three are pending.

Hazan was convicted in Manhattan federal court in 2008 of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, prosecutors said.

Each defendant faces charges that include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft. The fraud and laundering counts carry maximum sentences of 20 years in prison, and aggravated identity theft carries two years, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The case is assigned to the office's Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit.