A baseless article has inspired a flurry of posts on social media that claim Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla was arrested for misrepresenting the effectiveness of his company’s vaccine.
"CEO of Pfizer arrested and charged with fraud," reads text in a Nov. 5 Facebook post. "Complete media blackout. Pfizer CEO, Albert Bourla, was arrested at his home in the affluent suburb of Scarsdale, NY on Friday."
The source of the claim is a Nov. 5 article from a Canadian website called the Conservative Beaver. The article says the FBI arrested Bourla for “his role in deceiving customers” about the COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness.
The article accumulated more than 20,000 shares on Facebook within one day, according to CrowdTangle, a social media insights tool. The Conservative Beaver has published misinformation in the past, including false stories that former President Barack Obama was arrested on charges of espionage and that Brian Laundrie was found alive in Mexico.
This claim is bunk, too. Public records and appearances confirm Bourla has not been arrested for fraud.
USA TODAY reached out to the Conservative Beaver and Facebook users who shared the claim for comment.
Despite persistent claims online, there’s no evidence Bourla was arrested or charged with fraud related to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
Amy Rose, a spokesperson for Pfizer, said in an email that the claim is “absolutely false.”
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