Three individuals operating under aliases such as "Rocky Balboa," "Superman Cash," and "Fat Boy" have been indicted in a US District Court in New York for orchestrating a massive, technology-driven fraud scheme. According to court documents, the accused used artificial intelligence to impersonate corporate executives and attorneys, successfully swindling approximately $129 million from businesses across the globe over an 18-month period.
The defendants have been identified as 41-year-old Jacob Soall, 54-year-old Sharon Hazan, and 42-year-old Guy Sheetrit. The indictment details that the trio faced charges including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. Authorities noted that the individuals were arrested between June and September. Among the accused, Hazan has a prior criminal record, having been convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in a New York court in 2008.
The sophisticated scheme primarily targeted the accounting departments of various organizations. The perpetrators would send emails disguised as company CEOs, pressuring employees to authorize confidential financial transactions. To lend credibility to these demands, the group escalated their interactions through phone or video calls, utilizing AI tools to mimic the specific voices and, in some instances, the visual appearances of the corporate leaders they were impersonating.
Court records indicate that the operation also involved impersonating legal professionals. Soall allegedly posed as UK-based lawyers to further deceive staff, going so far as to follow a prepared "handwritten script titled ‘Lawyer Call’" to ensure the interactions appeared genuine. Once the targets were convinced, they were directed to transfer large sums of money to bank accounts located worldwide.
To complicate efforts to track the stolen funds, the group converted the proceeds into cryptocurrency, effectively concealing the origins of the money before distributing it among themselves and other undisclosed accomplices. The scope of the operation was international, with victims spanning several sectors and regions. Notable entities affected by the fraud include hospital systems in Missouri and California, a Rhode Island-based bank, a financial technology firm in the UK, a mutual fund company in Massachusetts, and a pet food business in Florida.
FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle Jr. emphasized the gravity of the case, stating that it serves as a stark reminder of how emerging technologies are being weaponized for large-scale criminal activities. He affirmed the agency's commitment to adapting its investigative capabilities to disrupt those who exploit these tools to harm businesses and communities.
As the legal proceedings move forward, the potential consequences for the defendants are significant. If convicted, each of them faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud and money laundering charges. Furthermore, the charge of aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory additional two-year sentence. While legal representatives for Soall and Sheetrit have not responded to requests for comment, the status of Hazan’s legal representation remains unclear.
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