The pharmaceutical industry has been rocked by a major cyber fraud case, with Mumbai-based Alkem Laboratories suffering a financial loss of Rs 22.31 crore due to an elaborate scam. Fraudsters posed as executives from Alkem’s U.S. subsidiary, Ascend Laboratories LLC, to execute the scheme.
According to a Hindustan Times report, the incident began on October 27, 2023, when Alkem’s Mumbai office received an email seemingly from Amit Ghare, the head of international operations at Ascend Laboratories. The email claimed that a recent payment to Alkem would lead to significant tax liabilities. To circumvent these taxes, the company was asked to refund the amount to a different bank account.
On November 17, 2023, another email, allegedly from Mary Smith, Ascend Laboratories' accounting manager, provided details of a U.S.-based bank account for the refund. Acting on these instructions, Alkem’s treasury manager, Manoj Mishra, transferred Rs 51.30 crore to the specified account via a SWIFT transaction.
The fraud came to light on November 15, 2023, when Alkem received another email, supposedly from Ghare, requesting a refund of Rs 90 crore. Growing suspicious, Alkem officials contacted Ghare, who confirmed he had not sent the request. Further investigation revealed that the earlier emails originated from compromised email accounts with subtle alterations in the email addresses.
According to HT, U.S. authorities were able to recover Rs 28.98 crore from the stolen amount, which was returned to Alkem. However, the company still suffered a loss of Rs 22.31 crore.
Alkem Laboratories has reported the incident to the authorities, and an ongoing investigation aims to identify and apprehend the fraudsters while recovering the remaining funds. The company has also implemented enhanced cybersecurity measures to safeguard against similar threats, as reported by The Free Press Journal.
