SHC issues notices to Sindh govt, FIA in Axact fake degree scam

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday issued notices to the provincial government, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the home secretary over alleged fake degree scam involving Pakistani IT company, Axact.

The notices were issued to all parties for appearance before the court on May 26 by a two-member bench of the high court, headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah.

The petitioner pleaded that the report published in the New York Times was “unfounded and based on lies”. He has prayed not to take any action prior to formal investigation into the allegations hurled at the company.

The federal government, ministries of interior, finance and information should be stopped from harassing the company and the petitioner, said the petition.

The Pakistani IT company, which the New York Times claims reaps in millions of dollars by selling fake academic degrees online, is being probed by the federal investigators.

In raids conducted at the company’s offices across the country, the FIA arrested at least 28 employees in Rawalpindi and confiscated vital computer data from other offices earlier in the day.

Following the claims made in the NYT, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar had ordered a probe into the allegations to find out if Axact, which claims to be Pakistan’s largest software exporter, is involved in illegal activities.