Fake degrees case: Axact CEO, others on judicial remand for two days

KARACHI:

A district and sessions court on Monday ordered nine men accused of involvement in the fake degrees scandal, including Axact’s founding chairperson and chief executive officer, into jail custody on judicial remand for two days till June 10.

The nine accused – CEO Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh, COO Viqas Atique and 7 other top officials – appeared before the South district’s civil judge Noor Muhammad Kalmati Baloch in the third hearing of the fake degrees and money laundering case against them.

The Federal Investigation Agency’s team submitted before the judge that ‘concrete’ evidence was recovered during investigations and interrogation of the suspects.

The owner of the printing press from where the company got fake degrees had been traced and named in the witness list against the accused, the investigation officer told the court, requesting the court to record statements of three ‘key’ prosecution witnesses.

Furthermore, the investigation officer of the case told the court that data seized from the company was being decoded and soon it will be available.

The judge fixed June 13 for recording of statements under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and directed the FIA official to submit investigation report of the case on the next hearing.

Meanwhile, the defence moved applications seeking better facilities for Shaikh and others in prison. However, the judge returned the pleas, observing that the same may be filed before the trial court.

The FIA has booked the suspects under Sections 420, 468, 471, 472, 473, 474, 477-A, 109 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code, Sections 36 and 37 of Electronic Transaction Ordinance and Section 3 and 4 of Anti-money Laundering Act.

Bol TV petition

Separately, FIA submitted its response before the Sindh High Court on lawsuit of Axact-backed Bol TV. The investigation agency submitted that it had not taken into possession any document or equipments of Labaik TV and Bol TV except of those allegedly by used their parent company in the education scam.

Plaintiff Labaik and Bol TVs’ management had approached the high court against the customs authorities for initiating proceedings regarding the equipment procured and installed by the channel and the FIA official for taking the important documents into custody.

The FIA report was submitted to the court through its Nazir who had inspected the channel premises himself.

The SHC’s division bench, headed by Justice Munib Akhtar, granted time to parties of the case to file objections if any on Nazir report by June 24.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2015.