ED searches 5 Bengaluru premises in alleged fake Pfizer antibiotics case
The ED said it searched five premises in Bengaluru under the PMLA in an alleged counterfeit medicines case and froze bank accounts holding about Rs 9 lakh.
Key points
- The ED said it searched five premises in Bengaluru under the PMLA in an alleged counterfeit medicines case.
- The ED said bank accounts holding about Rs 9 lakh were frozen and digital devices and documents were seized.
- The ED alleges generic drugs were relabelled as Pfizer antibiotics and supplied to hospitals; investigation continues.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Bangalore, said it searched five premises in Bengaluru under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in an alleged counterfeit medicines case. According to the ED's press release of 2 November 2026, bank accounts of one person holding about Rs 9 lakh were frozen, and digital devices, records and documents were seized.
What Happened
The ED said the searches were carried out under Section 17 of the PMLA at premises of persons and entities connected with the alleged racket. Its money-laundering case arises from an FIR registered on 18 August 2026 at Tavarekere Police Station, Bengaluru South, Karnataka.
According to the ED, the FIR followed a joint raid that day by the Drug Controlling Authority and the police at a residential property in CK Tandya village, where the accused were allegedly found storing medicines without a valid licence and replacing their labels. The offences were registered under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Section 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957, which are scheduled offences under the PMLA, the ED said.
The ED alleges that one accused arranged a farmhouse near Bidadi for manufacturing, repackaging and relabelling medicines without a drug licence. Cheap bulk formulations from several states were allegedly refilled into new vials and relabelled as expensive Pfizer antibiotics, including Zavicefta and Emblaveo, according to the ED. It alleges the vials held generic medicines but carried Pfizer-branded labels, and were distributed through M/s DM Pharmaceuticals and supplied to M/s Krupa Healthcare, which in turn supplied other pharmaceutical entities and hospitals along with genuine medicines.
The ED said further investigation is under way.
These are allegations, not findings of guilt; the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court, and due process continues.
What It Means
The case, as the ED describes it, concerns expensive hospital antibiotics allegedly sold in fake packaging alongside genuine stock. Patients and families buying such medicines can ask the hospital or chemist for the bill and the batch number, and report a suspected fake medicine to the state drug control authority. Freezing of accounts during a PMLA search is an interim step, not a finding by a court.
This report describes enforcement actions and allegations on the public record, attributed to the officials cited. An order, FIR or chargesheet is not a conviction; parties are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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Sources & Citations
- Enforcement Directorate press release — Enforcement Directorate