Scammers send fake message in CEO Adar Poonawalla’s name, dupe Serum Institute of Rs 1 crore

According to the Pune Police, fraudsters stole more than Rs 1 crore from the vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) by sending messages posing as the company’s CEO, Adar Poonawalla, and demanding a wire transfer of funds.

An officer from the Bundgarden police department said that the scam occurred between Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. According to senior inspector Pratap Mankar, a FIR has been filed against unnamed individuals for cheating and violations of the Information Technology Act.

In the FIR, it is said that one of the SII’s directors, Satish Deshpande, received WhatsApp conversations from a man claiming to be Adar Poonawalla. According to the complaint submitted by the company’s financial manager, the sender ordered Deshpande to instantly transfer funds to a certain bank accounts.

Later, it was discovered that Poonawalla had never sent any such WhatsApp conversation, but at the time, the firm executives had deposited Rs 1,01,01,554. Inspector Mankar said that an investigation was now underway.

The SII maintains a factory in Pune, where they produce, among other vaccines, the Covishield vaccination against coronavirus.

(With inputs from PTI)