Woman CEO of MNC busted for cybercrime

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Cybercrime is perceived as the province of depraved men. But a disturbing trend has come to light of late. Increasingly, women are resorting to online tactics to achieve some nefarious end.

Recently, the woman CEO of a multinational corporation’s India operations was detained by the police for cyber-harassment of a co-worker in HR —also a woman.

The CEO, aged 43, posted derogatory remarks about the HR executive, aged 39, on a consumer website to malign her. She described the victim as a sex pest who eyed young men newly recruited into the company and was also “having a good time with a former employee”, said an officer with the police’s cyber crime investigation cell. The CEO was traced through the IP address from where the posts were made.

“In her police complaint, the victim, who is incidentally unmarried, told us that someone was posting comments about her character, or lack thereof, and that she was described as someone who frequently slept with her colleagues and ‘spoiled’ them,” said a police officer. “She said it all started when she found a change in the way her colleagues perceived her, so much so that she found it difficult to work with them. It was only when her friends and well-wishers asked her about the online posts that she realized what the matter was. She told us she was taken aback and did not know how to react.”
CEO was jealous of colleague’s rise through the ranks
Mumbai: The woman CEO of an MNC’s country operations was recently detained by the police for cyber-harassment of a colleague. She would post on a website derogatory remarks about the colleague, who is an HR executive. The police sought from the website the internet protocol address from where the posts were submitted. “It was found to originate from an apartment in a residential complex in Goregaon. When we reached there, we were shocked to find that the house belonged to the CEO of the firm where the victim worked,” the officer said. “Initially, the CEO was not cooperating. She even accused us of harassing her and said we should conduct our probe in the ‘right direction’ rather than ‘roam here and there’. But we had technical evidence. When we confronted her with it and emphasized that the IP address belonged to her own PC, she surrendered. Her husband, who is in a senior post in a private firm, seemed helpless.”

The CEO broke down at the police station. “She found herself in front of the victim, who she could not look in the eye. She even had tears,” the officer said.

“In a written apology, she said she was jealous as the victim was getting quick promotions. So, she started writing the online posts, the website being one that is commonly visited by private companies, including her own, to do background checks on potential recruits. She wanted the management to take note of the posts and initiate action against the victim.”

The Times of India, October 17, 2011