The incident occurred on February 23, when the former chairman of Fideuram, Paolo Molesini, was contacted via WhatsApp by individuals impersonating the CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, Carlo Messina. The attackers used AI-cloned voices and forged documents to convince the bank to transfer nearly €95 million to accounts in China and Hong Kong.
Following the discovery of the fraud, Fideuram initiated international banking recovery procedures. Approximately €40 million was returned from Chinese banks, and €13 million was frozen in Portugal. However, at least €36 million was converted into cryptocurrency, making it difficult to trace. Reports on the total unrecovered amount vary, with some sources citing €39.5 million.
A 48-year-old Israeli citizen is currently a suspect in the investigation. Authorities tracked approximately €4 million of the stolen funds through Malta, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, eventually reaching two Bitcoin wallets via a Canadian money transfer platform.
The Milan Prosecutor's Office is investigating similar cases involving other financial institutions. Banca Ifis lost approximately €24 million in a separate incident, with €20 million subsequently recovered or frozen. Another smaller bank reported a loss of approximately €2 million, with some funds traced to Croatia.
