FIA seals institute for issuing fake degrees

Authorities have lodged case no 01/2024 against college management, employees associated with PNMC

RAWALPINDI:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has sealed an institute for issuing fake degrees to paramedics in the federal capital.

According to a spokesperson for the crime watchdog, the action against Vanguard Institute of Medical Sciences comes in response to allegations that the institute had been involved in issuing counterfeit degrees to paramedical staff.

The FIA’s Anti-Corruption Circle Islamabad, led by Assistant Director Rana Shahid Habib, conducted a raid on the bogus institute. Authorities have lodged a case no 01/2024 against both the college management and employees associated with the Pakistan Nursing and Midwifery Council (PNMC).

Read Fake degree fallout

Surprisingly, it has been revealed that graduated nurses and paramedic staff armed with these forged credentials have been employed in various hospitals. During the investigation, officials discovered a fabricated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) purportedly signed with the prestigious Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS). Further scrutiny exposed that the faculty list submitted by the institute was also counterfeit.

The implicated individuals in this fraudulent operation include Mushtaq Soomro, Niyaz Ali, Liaquat Ali, Nadeem Ahmed, Siraj Ahmed, Principal Irshad Akhtar, and various faculty members.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2024.