Three men face US charges over an alleged corporate impersonation scheme that prosecutors say stole approximately $129 million. Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan and Guy Sheetrit are accused of helping deceive employees into authorizing payments through fake executive and lawyer identities, according to the Southern District of New York.
The indictment describes AI-generated voices and images used to reinforce a carefully staged financial transaction. It places the alleged conduct between at least July 2024 and February 2026.
A confidential deal, then a payment request
Prosecutors allege that the group selected accounting employees with authority to approve large transfers. Initial emails, sent through electronic-signature services, purported to come from a company CEO. They requested a nondisclosure agreement and directed the recipient toward someone posing as a lawyer.
Phone or video calls allegedly supplied another layer of reassurance: a simulated CEO voice, and sometimes an image, supported the story. The supposed lawyer then pressed for secrecy around a transaction, often an acquisition, and supplied instructions to wire money to an account controlled by the conspirators.
Not every attempted payment went through. The indictment describes an October 2024 attempt to obtain about $2.849 million from a New York investment bank. An employee authorized the transfer, but the bank’s back office stopped it.
The DOJ announced the charges on November 5, 2026. Soall was arrested in Spain on June 17; Hazan in Spain on August 5; and Sheetrit in the United Kingdom on September 7. Extradition requests remain pending. The charges include wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. All three are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Verify the caller through another route
Separately, the FBI’s December 2024 guidance on AI-enabled fraud recommends ending a suspicious call, independently finding the organization’s contact details and calling directly to check the caller’s identity. For a payment request, that means making the verification call using independently sourced contact information before acting on the instructions.
The FBI also advises against sharing sensitive information with people known only online or by phone. Suspected victims can report financial fraud to IC3, including payment dates, amounts, destination accounts or cryptocurrency addresses, and a description of how the request arrived.
