US charges three in $129M deepfake fraud

Federal prosecutors in the United States have charged Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan and Guy Sheetrit with using AI-generated voices and images to pose as chief executives and lawyers in order to induce fraudulent bank transfers. According to the federal indictment cited by sources, the scheme allegedly diverted at least $129 million between July 2024 and February 2026.

Who were they allegedly targeting?

The indictment says the group targeted thousands of companies worldwide, according to Associated Press, and that the U.S. entities affected reportedly included a Florida pet food maker, a Missouri hospital system, a Massachusetts mutual fund company, a California hospital system and a Rhode Island bank. The individual losses described by prosecutors and in the federal indictment do not amount to a conviction or a final judicial finding.

NBC News reported that Soall was arrested in Spain in June, Hazan in Spain in August, and Sheetrit in the United Kingdom in September. The same coverage described the case as an international operation and cited a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

How did the scheme allegedly work?

Available reporting says the defendants allegedly used AI-generated voice and image impersonations of executives and lawyers to trick employees into wiring money to accounts they controlled. Gizmodo said employees were induced to send funds for nonexistent confidential operations, with targets including hospitals, banks and other companies.

AI Weekly reported, attributing it to the Justice Department filing and NBC News, that the funds were sent overseas and then converted into cryptocurrency. That detail, according to the research material itself, needs to be checked against the original indictment before it is treated as confirmed.

CyberScoop, citing the Justice Department and court documents, added that the three men were charged with using executive and lawyer deepfakes to obtain large transfers into accounts under their control, with losses of at least $129 million. SOFX places the operational period between July 2024 and February 2026.