€95M Vanished From Fideuram in AI Fraud as Money Went From Malta to Bitcoin Wallets Linked to Israeli Suspect

About €95 million ($108 million) left Fideuram – Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking in 11 transfers between 23 February and 25 February 2026, after an apparent impersonation scheme deceived then-chairman Paolo Molesini. Reuters reported that about €53 million ($60 million) was recovered or blocked, while the Milan court file records €39.5 million ($45 million) as still unrecovered.

More than €36 million was traced through accounts in Malta, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, a Canadian money-transfer platform and two Bitcoin wallets that the Milan investigation links to a 48-year-old Israeli man under investigation for aggravated fraud and impersonation, along with unidentified accomplices. About €3.5 million to €4 million passed through accounts connected to him, separate from that broader trail.

How the Impersonation Reached Fideuram’s Payment Desk

On 23 February, Molesini received a WhatsApp message from a number he did not recognise that purported to be Carlo Messina, chief executive of Intesa Sanpaolo, Fideuram’s parent. The message described an urgent and confidential acquisition involving an international bank and said Intesa could not buy the bank directly, leaving Fideuram to make the payments.

A subsequent call appeared to come from Paolo Nastasi, a lawyer Molesini knew and managing partner of A&O Shearman’s Italian office. Nastasi was uninvolved and did not know his voice had been used. Investigators say the caller’s voice had been recreated using artificial intelligence.

The callers supplied payment documents, including a confidentiality agreement and a power of attorney that appeared to carry Messina’s signature. A Fideuram funds official was also contacted by someone posing as the chief executive before the payments were made.

Molesini instructed Fideuram’s finance operation to execute 11 transfers over three days. Most of the money went to China and Hong Kong, while another portion was sent to Portugal. Fideuram detected an irregularity and moved to stop the transfers.

About €40 million to €42 million sent to Chinese accounts was blocked and returned, according to the investigation. In Portugal, Milan investigating judge Sonia Mancini signed a seizure order freezing more than €13 million in a bank account.

Milan prosecutors Alfonso Serritiello and Barbara Benzi are investigating the case with the Carabinieri, Italy’s military police. The Portuguese freeze was carried out in May 2026 with cross-border cooperation involving Eurojust, the European Union’s judicial-cooperation agency.

The Malta Trail Ended in Two Bitcoin Wallets

The more than €36 million traced by investigators moved through accounts in Malta, Luxembourg and the Netherlands before passing through a Canadian money-transfer platform and reaching two Bitcoin wallets. The Milan investigation links those wallets to the 48-year-old Israeli man, whose name has not been confirmed as genuine.

About €3.5 million to €4 million of the financial flow passed through accounts connected to the man. The available reporting does not establish that the amount associated with those accounts represents the full value of the wallet trail.

The suspect is being investigated for aggravated fraud and impersonation along with unidentified accomplices. The investigation has not publicly established the full role he allegedly played in the wider impersonation scheme.

Molesini is not under investigation. He resigned as chairman of Fideuram and of Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking on 12 March 2026, citing personal reasons, and deputy vice chairman Tommaso Corcos assumed the chairman’s duties. Fideuram and Intesa Sanpaolo declined to comment.