FIA takes Axact CEO into custody; FIR lodged

KARACHI: The Corporate Crime Circle of the Federal Investigation Agency lodged a fraud and forgery case against the Axact CEO Shoaib Shaikh in the wee hours of Wednesday, taking the central character in the fake degree scam into custody.

The move followed a late-night raid on the offices of Axact on Khayaban-e-Ittehad in DHA, where thousands of fake degrees of various bogus universities, diplomas and student cards were found and seized from a nearby building.

Hayat also confirmed that Shaikh had been taken into custody and shifted to the Corporate Crime Circle for questioning.

According to Kamran Ataullah, Deputy Director at FIA, Shoaib will be presented in court tomorrow (Thursday).

The overnight raid was carried out by FIA in coordination with a team of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) led by DSP Amir Hameed.

According to sources, seven Directors of Axact, including Viqas Atiq (Vice Chairman & Co – Founder of Axact) have also been taken into custody by the FIA.

Shaikh was being questioned by the FIA regarding the issuance of fake degrees and various bank accounts for two days in a row. Following his appearance before the federal investigators on Monday, he was again summoned at the FIA head office in Karachi on Tuesday morning.

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Fake degrees found from Axact office: DG FIA

DG FIA Sindh Shahid Hayat and the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) team led by DSP Amir Hameed arrived at the location late on Tuesday night where Axact’s printing operation was taking place.

Speaking to the media in early hours of Wednesday, Hayat said fake degrees in the hundreds of thousands were found in the building located next to Axact's headquarters in Karachi.

“We received information on where Axact’s printing operation was taking place. The office was opened in the presence of the magistrate and degrees and student ID cards were found in the hundreds of thousands,” he said.

Television footage showed the building where blank degrees of online educational institutions and student ID cards were being kept.



According to the duty magistrate the degrees were found on information provided by Axact CEO Shoaib Shaikh. The building was sealed for the night following the raid.

The Axact scandal came to light when the New York Times published an investigative report claiming that the Pakistani IT company had made millions of dollars selling fake degrees online.

Following the NYT story, Pakistan authorities were quick to act as Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ordered the FIA to launch a probe into the fake degree scandal.

Degrees, student ID cards found in hundreds of thousands from #Axact’s office: Shahid Hayat | http://t.co/AFiX1PG50E pic.twitter.com/0QwwvmJjON

— Geo English (@geonews_english) May 26, 2015