New York — Three people accused of using artificial intelligence to pose as corporate executives and lawyers in a scheme that allegedly stole roughly $129 million have been indicted on wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges, prosecutors said Thursday.
According to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court in New York, Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42, targeted thousands of companies worldwide over an 18-month period.
The alleged victims included hospital systems in Missouri and California, a Rhode Island bank, a United Kingdom fintech company, a Massachusetts mutual fund firm and a Florida pet-food business, court records show.
The defendants, who are from Spain, the U.K., Israel and the United Arab Emirates, also face money-laundering charges, prosecutors said.
Soall and Hazan were arrested in Spain, while Sheetrit was arrested in the U.K. between June and September. Extradition proceedings for all three are pending.
Hazan was convicted in a New York court in 2008 of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The suspects, who used nicknames including “Rocky Balboa,” “Superman Cash” and “Fat Boy,” frequently focused on corporate accounting departments. Court documents say they sent emails pretending to come from a company’s chief executive and requested assistance with a supposedly confidential financial transaction.
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They then arranged phone or video calls in which they allegedly used AI to replicate the executive’s voice and, in some cases, appearance, according to the indictment.
Employees were subsequently instructed to contact a lawyer at a prominent law firm—another person the group was prepared to impersonate, prosecutors said.
Soall primarily posed as attorneys from the U.K. He allegedly used a handwritten document titled “Lawyer Call” as a script to make himself appear to be a genuine lawyer while speaking with and defrauding victims, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The fictitious attorneys allegedly directed employees to wire large sums to bank accounts around the world, court documents say. The money was then converted into cryptocurrency in an effort to obscure its origins before being distributed among the three defendants and other alleged participants.
James C. Barnacle Jr., the FBI’s assistant director in charge, said the case demonstrates how rapidly advancing technology can facilitate fraud on a massive scale.
“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, the defendants could receive sentences of up to 20 years in prison. Aggravated identity theft carries a separate maximum sentence of two years, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.