No, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla wasn’t arrested on fraud charges

A Nov. 5 blog post headline alleging that the chief executive officer of Pfizer has been arrested and charged with fraud is being shared widely on Facebook, but it’s baseless. 

"Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla was arrested at his home in the affluent suburb of Scarsdale, New York Friday morning by the FBI and charged with multiple counts of fraud," the post goes on to say. "Bourla is being held while he awaits a bail hearing." 

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

Bourla is the chairman and chief executive officer of Pfizer. 

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Facebook posts

stated on January 22, 2020 in a Facebook post

Says a coronavirus patent expired just as there is a "sudden outbreak" and, despite "media fear-mongering," there is already a vaccine available.

"This is a false claim," Jerica Pitts, a spokesperson for Pfizer, told PolitiFact. 

We didn’t find Bourla searching for his name among federal prison inmates, and we didn’t find him searching among inmates in custody in Westchester County, where Scarsdale is. Searching PACER, a database of federal court records, we didn’t find any criminal complaints involving Bourla.

Meanwhile, Bourla tweeted as recently as Nov. 5, and appeared on CNN to talk about Pfizer’s recent announcement about a pill designed to fight COVID-19. 

We rate this post Pants on Fire!