AI Voice-Cloning Scam Drains €95 Million From Intesa Sanpaolo's Private Banking Arm

What happened

Fraudsters used artificial intelligence to impersonate senior executives and stole roughly €95 million, about $108 million, from Fideuram, the private banking arm of Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's largest lender, according to reporting published on 25 and 26 September 2026 by Reuters via de Volkskrant and La Verità. The scheme began on 23 February 2026, when then-Fideuram Chairman Paolo Molesini received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number from someone claiming to be Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina. The fake Messina announced a secret acquisition of an international bank that had to be routed through Fideuram to avoid triggering a leak to the regulator Consob, and said a lawyer would contact Molesini to close the deal. Molesini then took a phone call from a voice that sounded like Paolo Nastasi, the Italian managing partner of A&O Shearman, a lawyer unconnected to the affair whose voice had been cloned with AI. He was sent 11 documents, including a confidentiality agreement and a special power of attorney apparently signed by Messina, along with wire coordinates. The same day, Fideuram's head of treasury and payments was contacted by someone posing as Fideuram CEO Lino Mainolfi, pre-announcing "urgent and confidential" wire transfers from Molesini. Roughly €95 million then moved to accounts in China and Hong Kong.

Authorities in China, Portugal and Italy have since recovered about €53 million. A Chinese bank blocked more than €40 million, and €13 million was located and seized in Portugal by decree of judge Sonia Mancini. About €36 million remains missing after being routed through overseas accounts and converted into cryptocurrencies, though La Verità puts the unrecovered sum at €39.5 million. Milan prosecutors have placed a foreign national living outside Europe under investigation for computer fraud. A seizure order names a suspected gang member described as a 48-year-old Israeli IT specialist, investigated "in complicity with unknown persons," though the identity may be false. Neither Molesini nor other Fideuram executives are under investigation.

Why it matters

The case shows how quickly AI voice cloning and messaging impersonation can defeat the internal controls of a major bank, and at what scale. The fraud did not rely on hacking Fideuram's systems. It relied on trust in familiar voices and names at the top of the institution, a WhatsApp message from a supposed CEO, a cloned lawyer's voice, and paperwork convincing enough to move nine figures in a single day. The aftermath is visible in the bank's own accounts. Molesini resigned as chairman effective 4 March 2026, with Fideuram's 12 March statement citing only "personal reasons." The bank's half-year report to 30 June 2026 booked €38 million under "charges not related to ordinary management," against zero in the first half of 2025, and flagged "growing operational risks connected to fraud phenomena." The scheme also fits an established Italian pattern of so-called president scams. Maire Tecnimont lost $18.6 million in 2018 and Sisal €5.5 million in 2019 to similar fake-lawyer schemes, and Milan prosecutors in 2025 sought trial for three Italian-Israelis in those cases, with no current link to the Fideuram affair. In a separate May 2026 case, a bank manager was tricked into authorizing €23.8 million in transfers. The Dutch central bank president, commenting on what De Telegraaf headlined an "AI bank robbery in Italy," said "it is simply going to happen at some point," a warning that the technique is portable to any institution that relies on voice and email authorization.

How it is being covered

The story is carried by 80 sources, split 30 percent left, 29 percent centre and 41 percent right, with 19 of 27 rated outlets showing high factuality, according to Ground News. Coverage is broad and politically balanced, with no blindspot detected across the spectrum. The detailed reconstruction of the WhatsApp approach and the cloned voice, drawn from the Milan investigation, comes mainly from La Verità's inquiry, while international outlets have leaned on the Reuters account of the theft and the recovery effort.

What to watch

Three threads remain open. First, whether Milan prosecutors identify more members of the gang, since the one named suspect's identity may be false and the investigation is framed as "in complicity with unknown persons." Second, whether the roughly €36 million still missing, much of it converted into cryptocurrencies, can be traced or frozen, and whether the gap between the Reuters figure and La Verità's €39.5 million narrows as recovery proceeds. Third, how Intesa Sanpaolo and Fideuram respond in their controls and disclosures, given that the half-year report already flags growing fraud-related operational risks, and whether Italian or European regulators issue guidance on executive-impersonation fraud following the Dutch central bank's warning.

By the numbers

• Amount stolen: €95 million, about $108 million
• Amount recovered: about €53 million, more than €40 million blocked by a Chinese bank and €13 million seized in Portugal
• Amount still missing: about €36 million per Reuters, €39.5 million per La Verità
• Fake documents sent to the victim: 11
• Date of the first fake WhatsApp message: 23 February 2026
• Molesini resignation effective: 4 March 2026
• Fideuram H1 2026 non-ordinary charge: €38 million, against zero in H1 2025
• Prior similar frauds: Maire Tecnimont $18.6 million in 2018, Sisal €5.5 million in 2019, separate May 2026 bank-manager case €23.8 million

Source snapshot