Prosecutors say trio used AI deepfakes to pose as executives and attorneys, siphoning $129 million from companies

U.S. prosecutors charged three foreign nationals with orchestrating an AI-enabled fraud that siphoned roughly $129 million from companies worldwide by impersonating top executives and their lawyers. According to an indictment in the Southern District of New York, the defendants used cloned voices and, at times, deepfake video to stage “confidential” payment requests with corporate accounting staff, then directed wire transfers that were laundered through global accounts and converted to cryptocurrency. The alleged scheme struck a cross-section of victims, including hospital systems, a Rhode Island bank, a U.K. fintech, a Massachusetts mutual fund firm and a Florida pet-food company. Two suspects were arrested in Spain and one in the U.K., with extraditions pending. The defendants face wire-fraud and money-laundering counts carrying up to 20 years, and aggravated identity theft with a maximum sentence of two years.

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