Govt to seek help from FBI, Interpol and UK: Nisar

ISLAMABAD: Anticipating a broader investigation to probe the Axact scam, Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Saturday said that legal assistance would be solicited from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Interpol and assistance would also be requested over the scam as it has been unearthed and was operating from the US and UK as well.
Talking to media people at the Punjab House, the interior minister said that solid proof had been found during preliminary investigations and according to the evidence available with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) over the Axact scam, the agency would dispatch letters to the FBI and Interpol to seek their legal assistance to probe the complications associated with it.
Ch Nisar clarified that any sort of pressure relating to the investigation into the Axact scam would not be taken and investigations would be carried out on this sensitive issue in a transparent and fair manner and the scam would be taken to its logical end.
The minister said that within the next seven-ten days preliminary investigations would be completed and the future course of action would also be decided in accordance with the preliminary investigation report.
The minister said that investigations conducted during the last four to five days were quite satisfactory and the probe into the scam was handed over to the FIA after it was unearthed by the NYT. The FIA was examining the circumstances and will judge whether it FIA had the expertise to investigate this particular case or had to take foreign assistance to resolve the mysteries relating to the Axact scam.
In accordance with the information dug out by the FIA during the last four days, the FIA was going to dispatch letters to the FBI and Interpol to seek legal assistance over this high-profile multibillion dollar scam, the interior minister stated. The minister also pointed out that the FIA had sought assistance from the Pakistan Software Association over this particular case as it had been learnt that Axact was basically registered with the SECP to carry out IT related exports business. The minister said that the FIA handled only those cases that were assigned to it and this scam was very sensitive with many implications. Therefore, assistance would be sought from all possible quarters.
Acknowledging the proactive role of the Pakistani media during the last a few days relating to the media handling of the Axact issue, the interior minister urged media organisations not to use the media for point scoring. The minister said that the Axact scam had put the integrity of Pakistan at stake all over the world, therefore reporting on this particular issue should be done with responsibility.
The minister said that the FIA directors Inam Ghani and Shahid Hayat were monitoring the investigations and media persons instead of knocking at different doors should coordinate with these two directors directly to get updates on the investigations. The minister also urged the media not to quote the FIA on baseless news items relating to the investigations.
The minister said that the way the media was exposing the illegal activities of Axact was praiseworthy and it should also get united to identify the corrupt elements in society and assist the government to clamp down on corrupt elements in government departments and in society.
The media had always played a guiding role for the government and taking prompt action after the report of the NYT, the FIA took the initiative and got control of substantive content and material which could be destroyed if prompt action had not been taken, said the minister.
Commenting on criticism on the government of Pakistan in the foreign media relating to this particular case, the minister said that almost all the degrees were used in the US, UK and other foreign countries and people got jobs on these fake degrees in these countries. The governments of these countries were unaware of the affairs of this network, the minister said, and added that the first case relating to the fake degrees of this company was filed in the UK in 2009 and the person holding a fake degree of this network was punished. But the authorities of those countries did not take action against this network.
The minister also said that Axact’s accounts were being verified and some accounts of this company had been seized. Commenting on the security clearance granted to this company and its media house (Bol), the minister said that the company was registered in 2006 and security clearance was given to it overnight without pursuing rules and regulations and without the permission of the intelligence agencies.
Commenting on allegations of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, the minister said that the Judicial Commission (JC) was probing the rigging allegations and if the decisions of two-three cases had come in support of the PTI, it did not mean that the entire electoral process was rigged.
Responding to a query, the minister said that the PML-N secured a victory in the by-election of Multan with a big majority but even then they said that the Judicial Commission would decide the allegations levelled by PTI. The minister said that cases were being heard by the Judicial Commission and the PTI leadership should demonstrate patience and tolerance, as decisions were not made through media trials or street debates.
The minister said if vote verification was carried in the Mianwali constituency, 60-70 thousand votes would remain unverified. The minister pinpointed that votes that were ‘unverified’ were in fact ‘unreadable’ as Nadra’s machines had not read these thumb impressions owing to multiple issues relating to the quality of paper, low quality of magnetic ink and difference in shades and sizes of thumb impressions in the Nadra record and on ballot papers. The minister said that it was not the responsibility of Nadra to verify votes but Nadra was cooperating on the instructions of the court and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Nadra was not equipped with machinery to verify 100 percent ballot papers. The real issue behind the verification process was ‘readable’ and ‘unreadable’.
The minister also said that PTI filed 58 petitions relating to rigging in the electoral system and out of these 58 petitions only three were accepted for hearing and they were alleging the entire electoral process was rigged.
The minister said that neither he nor any government representative had influenced Nadra over any issue but even then the PTI chairman was allowed to meet the Nadra chairman.
The minister said they had put at stake their government for the verification of three to four constituencies.