Hospitals AI media incident — Nov 2026
Three foreign nationals were charged with a $129 million wire fraud scheme using AI to impersonate executives and attorneys to trick employees into.
- Reported date
- Nov 7, 2026
- Target
- Hospitals, banks, and other businesses
The exact incident date was not established. This entry is dated by its source report.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged three foreign nationals with orchestrating a years-long scheme that utilized artificial intelligence to impersonate corporate executives and attorneys. By tricking employees at hospitals, banks, and other businesses into wiring funds for fictitious confidential deals, the defendants allegedly stole at least $129 million. The indictment, unsealed in the Southern District of New York, names Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan, and Guy Sheetrit as the primary defendants, each facing seven counts including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering.
What happened
The conspiracy, which operated from approximately July 2024 through February 2026, targeted accounting staff with authority to approve large wire transfers. The attack typically initiated with an email sent via an electronic signature service, purportedly from a company executive, requesting assistance with a secret financial transaction. The email would include a nondisclosure agreement and instructions to contact a lawyer to arrange a compliance call.
During subsequent phone or video calls, the conspirators used AI to mimic the voices and, in some cases, the appearances of the executives. The fake executive would then direct the employee to a purported attorney—often borrowing the identity of a real lawyer from a major global law firm—who would provide instructions for the wire transfer. Soall reportedly maintained a handwritten script for these "Lawyer Calls," which invoked confidentiality and insider-trading concerns to prevent employees from verifying the deal with colleagues. Once the funds were transferred to accounts controlled by the conspirators, the money was converted into cryptocurrency and split among the participants. The operation reached thousands of companies globally, with specific losses including $4.83 million from a Missouri hospital system and $11.58 million from a U.K. financial technology company. While the defendants remain in custody abroad pending extradition, the case highlights the growing risk of AI-enabled impersonation targeting corporate finance departments.