Pakistan seeks FBI assistance to probe Axact scam

The Interior Ministry along with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Monday wrote a letter seeking legal assistance from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the probe into the Axact fake degree scam.

Interior Ministry officials said that the letter was sent to the Foreign Affairs Ministry which would forward it to the Pakistani Embassy in Washington for onward despatch to the US State Department. The letter includes an overall report of the FIA’s investigation into the Axact scam and seeks help from the FBI in investigating the case as US-based universities were involved.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had said on Saturday that a decision had been taken to seek legal assistance from the FBI and Interpol for investigations into the alleged sale of fake degrees by the software company, Axact.

Nisar had said that the enquiry against Axact would be completed within 10 days. A request for legal assistance might be made to the United Kingdom as well, but a final decision to this effect is yet to be taken, he had added.

SHAIKH DENIED PROTECTIVE BAIL:

Meanwhile in Karachi, the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday dismissed a petition by Axact Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh in which he requested the court to grant protective bail against a potential arrest in the fake degrees probe currently being undertaken by the FIA.

The court set aside Shaikh’s request, saying a pre-arrest bail cannot be granted unless an FIR [First Information Report] had been registered with the authorities. Since no FIR has been registered against Axact’s owner thus far, Shaikh’s petition cannot be maintained, said the court.

Last week, action against Axact kicked off after Interior Minister Nisar ordered an enquiry into the story published by The New York Times that claimed the company was issuing fake degrees as part of a massive global scam.

The minister in his directive also said that the FIA was to determine whether the contents of the NYT story were true and whether the company was involved in any illegal business which may bring a “bad name” to Pakistan.

The detailed NYT report titled “Fake Diplomas, Real Cash: Pakistani Company Axact Reaps Millions” and written by New York Times Pakistan bureau chief Declan Walsh outlined how Axact — referred to as a “secretive Pakistani software company” — allegedly earned millions of dollars from scams involving fake degrees, non-existent online universities and manipulation of customers.

According to the report, Axact created a series of fake websites involving “professors” and students who it said were in fact paid actors.

FIA officers swooped on the Karachi headquarters of the company last week, seizing equipment and records and expelling employees from the building.

The company’s Rawalpindi office had also been sealed and employees questioned, an official said requesting anonymity.

The interior minister also assured that the ministry will not bear the pressure from any individual regarding the investigation of the Axact scandal and the investigation will be fair and transparent in this regard.