Federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged three foreign nationals with orchestrating a cross-border fraud that used artificial intelligence to mimic corporate chiefs and top lawyers, inducing employees to wire more than $129 million to accounts controlled by the group. The alleged scheme, active from mid-2024 to early 2026, targeted firms from banks to hospital systems, with suspects directing accounting staff through purportedly “confidential” transactions while deploying AI-generated voices and images to impersonate CEOs and attorneys. Authorities say the funds were routed through global accounts and converted into cryptocurrency to obscure their origins. Arrests were made in Spain and the U.K., and one defendant previously convicted in New York is accused of boasting about extensive laundering activity. The defendants face counts including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Prosecutors warned that so-called superintelligence tools are amplifying traditional corporate fraud risks.
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