SDNY: Soall, Hazan, Sheetrit Face AI Deepfake Fraud Indictment

• Three individuals, Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan, and Guy Sheetrit, face charges for allegedly using AI to impersonate CEOs and attorneys.
• The corporate deepfake scam defrauded companies of over $129 million between 2024 and 2026, targeting at least seven high-profile executives.
• The scheme involved AI voice and image impersonation to convince employees to authorize large wire transfers for fake corporate acquisitions.
• Specific victims included a UK fintech firm ($11.5M+), a Massachusetts mutual fund ($4.6M+), and a Florida pet food company ($5.2M+).
• The defendants are charged with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering, with arrests made in Spain and the UK pending extradition.

The scheme involved the sophisticated use of artificial intelligence to replicate the voices and, at times, the images of chief executives, thereby deceiving high-level employees into believing they were engaging with their legitimate corporate leaders.

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have unsealed an indictment detailing a sophisticated scheme in which three men allegedly utilized artificial intelligence to impersonate corporate executives and defraud companies of more than $129 million. The accused, identified as Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan, and Guy Sheetrit, are said to have carried out these illicit activities between 2024 and 2026, targeting at least seven high-profile corporate leaders across the globe.

The elaborate fraud involved the trio identifying employees within companies who possessed the authority to approve substantial wire transfers. Once a target was selected, the defendants would initiate contact, convincing the employee that their assistance was crucial for a highly confidential financial transaction, often framed as a corporate acquisition. This initial engagement set the stage for the subsequent, more advanced stages of the deception.

The core of the alleged corporate deepfake scam involved inviting the targeted employees to voice or video calls. During these interactions, the defendants and their co-conspirators reportedly deployed AI technology to convincingly mimic the voice, and occasionally the visual appearance, of the impersonated chief executive. This advanced AI voice impersonation corporate theft technique was designed to persuade the victimized employees that they were genuinely communicating with their company's CEO, thereby legitimizing the fraudulent transaction.

Following the initial CEO impersonation, the scheme progressed to a second layer of deception. The victim employee would then be directed to an individual posing as an attorney from a prominent law firm. In reality, this 'attorney' was one of the defendants, again using AI to impersonate a real legal professional. This fake legal counsel would then instruct the employee to transfer a significant sum of money, ostensibly for the confidential corporate transaction, into a bank account secretly controlled by the conspirators. The purported corporate deals were entirely fabricated, and the employees were never in contact with the actual executives or legal representatives.

The indictment highlights several specific instances of the alleged fraud. In March 2025, a United Kingdom-based fintech firm was reportedly defrauded of over $11.5 million. The following month, in April 2025, a Massachusetts mutual fund company allegedly lost more than $4.6 million. By June 2025, a Florida-based pet food company was purportedly swindled out of over $5.2 million. The specific companies and law firms impersonated have not been publicly disclosed.

Jacob Soall, a 41-year-old with ties to Spain and the United Kingdom, is accused of impersonating attorneys, reportedly using a handwritten script filled with legal terminology. Sharon Hazan, 54, from Israel, and Guy Sheetrit, 42, from Israel and the United Arab Emirates, are alleged to have handled the money laundering aspects of the operation. Hazan reportedly boasted about his expertise in professional money laundering, claiming to be 'number one all over the world.'

Each of the three men faces seven charges, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering, which could lead to decades in prison if they are convicted. Soall was apprehended in Spain in June, Hazan in Spain in August, and Sheetrit in the United Kingdom in September, with extradition requests currently pending. U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York commented on the case, referring to the technology used as 'groundbreaking super intelligence technology' and urging individuals and businesses to bolster their defenses against the growing threat of AI-enabled crime.

This indictment underscores the critical need for legal and compliance teams to immediately review and fortify internal protocols for authorizing significant financial transactions, especially those initiated via remote or digital communications. Lawyers should advise corporate clients on implementing advanced verification measures and employee training to counter sophisticated AI-enabled impersonation and deepfake fraud, which presents a novel and rapidly evolving compliance exposure.

Source: Original reporting via Courthouse News