AI Impersonation: Three Accused in $129 Million CEO Fraud
Indictment details how a trio used voice and video cloning to trick accounting departments into wiring funds to offshore accounts.
By Yasmin Farouk ·
Three individuals face federal charges for using artificial intelligence to mimic the voices and faces of corporate executives, a scheme prosecutors say stole $129 million from companies worldwide.
Jacob Soall, 41; Sharon Hazan, 54; and Guy Sheetrit, 42, were indicted in U.S. District Court in New York on charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering.
The trio targeted accounting departments by sending emails that appeared to come from a company’s chief executive officer. These messages requested help with confidential financial transactions.
Court documents describe a multi-step process where the group arranged phone or video calls with employees. During these calls, they used AI tools to emulate the CEO’s voice and sometimes their image.
After establishing trust, the impersonators instructed the employee to contact a specific attorney. The group was prepared to impersonate that lawyer as well. Soall specifically mimicked attorneys from the United Kingdom and used a handwritten script titled “Lawyer Call” to sound authentic.
The fake lawyer would then direct the employee to wire large sums of money to bank accounts located globally. The funds were converted into cryptocurrency to obscure their origin before being distributed to the defendants and other associates.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years for wire fraud and money laundering. The charge of aggravated identity theft carries a maximum penalty of two years. The defendants, who used nicknames such as “Rocky Balboa” and “Superman Cash,” are currently in custody.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York filed the indictment, which outlines the technical methods used to clone voices and generate visual likenesses of the targeted executives.
