May 26 , 2015
News
Pakistan writes to FBI for assistance in Axact scandal probe
*SHC dismisses Axact CEO’s petition requesting protective bail * Shoaib Sheikh records statement to FIA
ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Pakistan officially sought US intelligence agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation’s help in probing Axact’s multi-million dollar fake degree scandal, officials said on Monday.
According to media reports, based on the developments to date in the software company’s scandal, the Interior Ministry officials said they have written a letter to the FBI.
“We’ve dispatched a request today,” an official told a media outlet on the condition of anonymity. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar has allowed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to seek assistance from foreign experts to probe the scandal, he added.
Following a New York Times report exposing Axact’s degree empire, Nisar ordered the FIA to conduct an inquiry into the company’s dubious online college websites. The FIA will be working in coordination with FBI and other international agencies with forensic experts to probe the digital scam as well as money laundering against the company, if there is any.
Meanwhile, the Sindh High Court rejected an application for protective bail filed by Axact Chief Executive Officer Shoaib Sheikh.
Announcing the verdict, the SHC also ordered authorities not to harass the complainant.
Earlier, the SHC had reserved its judgment on the bail application filed by Anwar Mansoor on behalf of the Axact CEO, which is being investigated for making millions of dollars by selling fake degrees online.
Hearing the application, SHC Justice Ahmed Ali Sheikh asked Mansoor how the court could grant protective bail when there was no case filed against his client.
To which the lawyer replied that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which is investigating Axact for a fake degree scam, has the right to carry out arrests. Rejecting claims of sealing Axact offices, an FIA lawyer said Sheikh’s application was premature, as the investigating authority was not arresting him.
To the Axact CEO’s application, the FIA lawyer said that an inquiry was being conducted into the alleged scam. He added that no case has yet been filed against Shoaib Sheikh, but that the investigating authority would act according to the law if substantive evidence found. He asked the court to dismiss the bail application.
A deputy attorney general said that no offices of Axact in Karachi had been sealed. He said that Sheikh was moving freely and visiting his lawyers.
Announcing its verdict later this evening, the judge dismissed Sheikh’s application for protective bail.
Axact became the focus of a major controversy when the News York Times published an investigative report claiming that the Pakistan-based company reaped millions of dollars by selling fake academic degrees online.
Following the NYT story, Pakistan authorities were quick to act as Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to launch a probe into the company. The company’s offices in Karachi and Rawalpindi have since been raided by teams of FIA investigators, who seized over 30 terabytes of data, which sources say contain evidence that the company was involved in producing diplomas.
On Saturday, a host of senior executives and journalists resigned from Axact’s media group.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk