Serum Institute duped of Rs 1 cr by scammers posing as CEO Adar Poonawalla

Serum Institute of India (SII), India's top vaccine manufacturer, has been duped of more than Rs 1 crore by fraudsters. The scammers committed the crime by sending messages in the name of the company's CEO Adar Poonawalla and asking for a transfer of money, the Pune Police said.

Pune-based Serum Institute is the manufacturer of the Covidshield Covid vaccine.

The fraud unfolded between the afternoons of Wednesday and Thursday, news agency PTI reported citing an official of Bundgarden police station.

The police have filed an FIR for cheating and offences under the Information Technology (IT) Act.

As per the details of the FIR, Satish Deshpande, one of the directors of the Serum, received WhatsApp messages from a person who posed as Adar Poonawalla.

Deshpande was asked to transfer money to certain bank accounts immediately. As the sender named Poonawalla, Deshpande fell for the message, and company officials transferred Rs 1,01,01,554.

However, later, they realised that the message was not from the CEO. The police have begun the probe to nab the fraudsters.