Axact executive pleads guilty to fraud charges in American court

Umair Hamid was arrested last year in the US

Senior Axact employee Umair Hamid who was arrested in the US last year, has pleaded guilty to charges brought against him for his role in the multi-million dollar fake diploma scheme being run by the Karachi-based IT company.

A press release issued by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday stated that Hamid, also known as Shah Khan, had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud – which carries a minimum sentence of 20 years – before US District Judge Ronnie Abrams.

The official indictment stated that 30-year-old Hamid and his co-conspirators duped people out of millions of dollars by making false and fraudulent representations on their websites to consumers, tricking them into paying upfront for enrolling at non-existent colleges and high schools and then issuing them fake diplomas.



“Operating from Pakistan, Umair Hamid helped fraudulently rake in millions of dollars from unwitting American consumers who paid to enroll in, and get degrees from, high schools and colleges that did not exist,” the press release stated, quoting Acting US Attorney for the Southern District of  New York Joon H Kim.

“As a result of his fraud, people who thought they were investing in an education received nothing more than worthless diplomas and a harsh lesson in the worldwide reach of deceit,” he added.

Umair Hamid, executive with Pakistani scam company @AxactTweets, pleads guilty in the US. Sentencing in July. https://t.co/sB9yIpoodD

— Declan Walsh (@declanwalsh) April 8, 2017

The international scam came to light in May 2015 when Declan Walsh, a New York Times journalist reported about the fake degree business being run out Axact offices in Karachi. After the news broke across local media, the Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency sprang into action and shut down Axact’s offices across the country. Key executives including CEO Shoaib Shaikh were also taken into custody and a case was registered. However, so far not much progress has been reported.

The DOJ statement said that Hamid resumed the fraudulent businesses after May 2015. He travelled to the US last year to set up accounts to collect money from customers who had unknowingly signed up for worthless diplomas and was arrested on December 19, 2016.

Working as Assistant Vice President of International Relations at Axact, Hamid controlled websites of supposed schools that claimed online instruction and coursework would be provided to enrolled customers who paid tuition fees, the DOJ press release stated. The websites also sold bogus academic accreditations for additional fees, claimed falsely that the schools were accredited with various educational organisations and that degrees were valid and accepted by employers, including those in the US.

Hamid and his co-conspirator opened bank accounts in the US under shell entities that received money transferred by customers and then transferred the money to other bank accounts, it added.

Hamid is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Abrams on July 21.