A test case for FIA to prove its worth
The FIA has completed the easier task. It has interrogated Axact CEO Shoaib Ahmad Shaikh, raided a ‘secret’ facility where its investigators found ‘hundreds of thousands’ of templates of forged degrees of different universities and student ID cards. Finally, the Agency has taken Shaikh into custody. The arrest comes eight days after Declan Walsh’s exposure of Axact as a worldwide, multi-million dollar fake diploma empire. The arrest would not exonerate FIA of its failure to probe the Axact earlier despite questions having been raised about the integrity of the body on social media much earlier. Had Walsh not exposed the scam, thus causing embarrassment to the government, the FIA would still have been napping.
The FIA has a difficult task now. It is required to prepare a sound case for the prosecution of those involved in the scam. The task will test the ability of the Agency. On account of the vast funds at the disposal of its CEO, Axact can hire the best lawyers for its defence. They will make use of the loopholes in the prosecution’s story. Unless the Agency prepares a foolproof case, those being arrested might soon be free, cocking a snook at the country’s law enforcement set up.
The case being prepared against Axact is supposed to include sections pertaining to money laundering, fraud and cybercrime. The material collected from the ‘secret’ premises and the witness account by former Axact employee, Taha Jatoi, comprise vital documentary and witness account. What one hopes is that the investigators would be able to find more incriminating evidence in the form of more documents and eyewitnesses to prepare a convincing case. FIA’s National Response Centre for Cyber Crime (NR3C) supposedly possesses state of the art digital forensic services. With all the Axact computers at its disposal, one expects the Centre to be able to cull out more evidence. What is at stake is the credibility of FIA as a premier law enforcement agency of the state.
