FIA raid: Even before starting, probe changes hands

Corporate Crimes Circle given charge of investigation into multimillion dollar scandal

KARACHI: The Axact scandal has not only earned a bad name for Pakistan internationally but has also put the future of hundreds of thousands of educated Pakistanis working abroad at stake.

The damning disclosure by The New York Times has unmasked the ugly face of the Axact management. The American newspaper has proved that the management of the Pakistani software company was selling their country and betraying Pakistan in the shape of fake degrees.

‘Axact-gate’ has emerged as the biggest educational scam of the world. And unfortunately, a Pakistani company is involved in it. The Axact owners have brought disgrace to Pakistan, which cannot be washed away until the criminals are punished. Pakistani agencies reacted to the NYT exposé and members of FIA’s Cybercrime Unit raided the Axact offices in Karachi, Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

However, Cybercrime Unit’s investigators had just started confiscating records from the Axact offices when they started receiving calls from their high-ups who reportedly stopped them from taking any action and asked them to keep their mouths shut. They were told that a team of the Corporate Crimes Circle would arrive and take charge of investigation.

The Corporate Crimes team did arrive and with its arrival the whole scene changed. The new team was friendly with the Axact staff and started gossiping with them. The Cyber Crime team was surprised to see this. They could just leave the place helplessly, as ordered by their high-ups.

The ‘glitter of the Axact’ had started working, it can be easily concluded. It changed the tone of the FIA investigation. Though the Axact owner has been summoned, it is expected that the meeting will be a friendly sitting over a cup of tea and the criminals will be cleared of blame.

The damage that the company has done to Pakistan cannot be compensated. The responsible persons should be punished. Otherwise, the persons working with Pakistani qualifications as well as the whole nation will suffer.
(TRANSLATION BY ARSHAD SHAHEEN)

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2015.