Three Foreign Nationals Charged With Using Super Intelligence to Defraud Companies of More Than $129 Million
Three foreign nationals have been arrested and charged with using super intelligence (SI) to impersonate corporate executives and lawyers and defraud companies around the world of more than $129 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on November 6, 2026. Prosecutors emphasized that the charges in the indictment are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald and James C. Barnacle, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan, and Guy Sheetrit for their participation in the scheme. Soall was arrested in Spain on June 17, 2026, Hazan was arrested in Spain on August 5, 2026, and Sheetrit was arrested in the United Kingdom on September 7, 2026. Extradition requests for all three are pending.
According to the indictment, between 2024 and 2026, the defendants and their co-conspirators used SI to impersonate the voices and images of corporate executives at numerous companies and attorneys at major law firms, in order to trick employees into sending large payments to bank accounts around the world controlled by members of the conspiracy. They typically began by pretending to be a victim company's chief executive officer, saying they needed an employee's help on a confidential financial transaction, and then also impersonated lawyers said to be working on the sham transaction.
The scheme ultimately stole more than $129 million from victim companies in the United States and around the world, including $4,829,580 from a hospital system headquartered in Missouri, $2,684,580 from a bank headquartered in Rhode Island, $2,968,497 from a hospital system headquartered in California, $11,578,474 from a financial technology company headquartered in the United Kingdom, $4,639,918 from a mutual fund company headquartered in Massachusetts, and $5,242,747 from a pet food company headquartered in Florida. Once wired, the money was converted into cryptocurrency in an attempt to conceal its source and ownership.
The indictment alleges that Soall primarily impersonated attorneys from the United Kingdom and kept a handwritten script titled "Lawyer Call," and that Hazan, who laundered funds from the scheme, boasted that he had been laundering money since 1994 and had laundered over $400 million in just the past three years. Hazan was previously convicted in the Southern District of New York of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in 2008.
Soall, 41, of Marbella, Spain, and the United Kingdom, Hazan, 54, of Israel, and Sheetrit, 42, of Israel and the United Arab Emirates, each face seven charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering, several of which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The case is being handled by the Office's Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Mead, Brandon C. Thompson, and Jackie Delligatti in charge of the prosecution.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国联邦调查局总部大楼（GSM联邦固定图库）。 / Photo: Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters (GSM federal asset library).
