THE SHORT VERSION

Fake CEOs stole $129 million — hospitals and banks paid up

Satirical cartoon: a nervous employee at her desk faces a laptop where a cheerful robot in a suit and tie, its face a screen showing a smiling CEO, gives a thumbs-up and points at a giant red WIRE button; a knowing tabby cat watches from the desk, on plain white paper. — Machine Age Cartoon · Zimbo

Federal prosecutors in New York charged three men on November 5 with using AI voice and face cloning to impersonate company CEOs and lawyers, tricking accounting staff into wiring money for supposedly confidential deals. Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan and Guy Sheetrit allegedly stole about $129 million over a year and a half, targeting thousands of companies including banks, fintech firms and hospitals.

The scheme worked in layers: a fake CEO email or call would reach an employee authorized to approve large transfers, the victim was made to sign an NDA, and then a supposed lawyer from a top international firm confirmed the deal was real before millions moved to sham accounts. Among the victims were a UK fintech that lost $11.6 million, a Missouri hospital system that lost $4.8 million and a Rhode Island bank that lost $2.7 million.

Prosecutors say the stolen money moved through accounts around the world and was converted into cryptocurrency to hide its source. Hazan, who allegedly handled much of the laundering, is said to have boasted he had laundered more than $400 million over three years. US Attorney Jamie McDonald warned businesses to prepare for what she called SI-enabled crime.