Hospital systems AI media incident — Nov 2026

Three individuals have been indicted on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for orchestrating a global scheme that utilized artificial intelligence to impersonate corporate executives and attorneys, resulting in the theft of approximately $129 million. Over a period of eighteen months, the defendants targeted thousands of companies, including hospital systems, banks, and financial firms across the United States and the United Kingdom.

What happened

The defendants—Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan, and Guy Sheetrit—operated a sophisticated social engineering campaign that frequently targeted corporate accounting departments. The process typically began with an email sent to an employee, purportedly from a CEO, requesting assistance with a confidential financial transaction. To add legitimacy to the request, the group coordinated follow-up phone or video calls where they used AI tools to mimic the voice and, in some instances, the image of the executive.

Once the target was engaged, the defendants directed them to contact an attorney at a major law firm, whom the group also impersonated. Soall reportedly utilized a handwritten script titled "Lawyer Call" to maintain the persona of a legal professional while instructing employees to wire large payments to various international bank accounts. To obscure the trail of the stolen funds, the group converted the proceeds into cryptocurrency before distributing the money among themselves and other participants. The defendants were arrested in Spain and the U.K. between June and September, and extradition requests are currently pending. If convicted, they face significant prison sentences for their roles in the multi-year fraud operation.