Fake message from CEO Adar Poonawalla’s number, Serum Institute duped of Rs 1 crore

The fraudsters allegedly sent a WhatsApp message to one of SII directors seeking money transfer to various accounts.

Serum Institute of India's Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla (File Photo)

Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) has been duped of Rs 1 crore by unidentified cyber fraudsters who allegedly posed as the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) Adar Poonawalla and sent a WhatsApp message to one of its directors seeking money transfer to various accounts, said the police.

According to a first information report (FIR) lodged at the Bundgarden police station on Friday based on the complaint of the company’s finance manager Sagar Kittur, the incident took place between 1.35 pm on September 7 and 2.30 pm on September 8.

The police said that director Satish Deshpande received a WhatsApp message from Poonawalla’s number with instructions to transfer money to a few bank accounts. Accordingly, Rs 1,01,01,554 was transferred from the company’s account to those accounts, they said.

But the company officials later came to know that Poonawalla had not sent any such message seeking transfer of money and approached the police.

The police said the FIR was lodged under Indian Penal Code (IPC sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 34 (common intention) and sections under the Information Technology Act.

Efforts are on to identify and nab the accused, those who sent the WhatsApp message and the holders of the bank accounts to which the money was transferred, they added.

SII is an Indian biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals company and is the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines. It produces Covishield, which has been the major Covid-19 vaccine in use in India.

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