FIA returns to Axact HQ as permanent guest

ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE/ KARACHI:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) team probing the fake degrees scam has returned as a permanent guest to the headquarters of Axact, the software company that a New York Times exposé claimed of being involved in the illegal business.

After raiding the Axact head office in Karachi and regional offices in the twin-cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Tuesday, the FIA returned on Wednesday to continue their investigations.

At the company headquarters in the upscale Defence area, the FIA team has launched an investigation to ascertain as to how Axact has trapped students and in what kinds of frauds it has been involved for years. According to sources, the investigators might detain some top officials from the head office.

The management has been told to share with the FIA all the company data, including those related to the educational institutions whose diplomas and degrees the company had been offering.

It has also been told to share the addresses of these institutions so that their whereabouts could be traced, if they exist, that is.  The FIA also requires the Higher Education Commission’s letter that Axact must possess to offer their educational programmes.

The investigators are also seeking the list of students who have been awarded degrees and of those who are registered for courses, as well as the fee details.

The other requirements of the FIA include details of company assets, complete data of all the employees, their skills and salary packages, and the list and invoices of purchases of all hardware and software installed at all premises of the company.

The FIA Karachi team has asked the authorities to allow separate investigation officers for four departments: students consultancy, accounts, call centre and human resources.

FIA Deputy Director Kamran Attaullah said additional teams might be required to conduct a thorough investigation into the scandal.

Sources said the investigators recorded statements of some top officials of the Axact management, including the HR manager. He might be taken into custody, a source believed.

An FIA team reached the Axact headquarters late on Wednesday night to start probing the IT department, which might take at least a month to complete. Attaullah said the company’s chief executive officer, Shoaib Sheikh, was expected to meet the investigation team on Thursday (today). The FIA will approach the court if Sheikh does not cooperate, he added.

Due to constant presence of the investigators, panic prevailed among the employees, many of whom had skipped work, according to sources.

“The people involved in tax theft and in defaming Pakistan’s name should be brought to justice,” a DHA resident told The Express Tribune outside the head office.

“Haven’t they been arrested yet?” asked another commuter. “I hope there won’t be any compromise on this serious issue.”

Twin-cities raids

The FIA teams seized more equipment from Axact’s regional offices in the twin-cities. Led by FIA regional director Tahir Tanvir, the investigators confiscated computers, hard disks and data from other computers, including two main servers. Around 42 servers have so far been seized from the Rawalpindi office.

The investigation agency has also sent notices to 10 directors of the company to appear before the FIA to record their statements.

Fate of Lahore office

An additional district and sessions judge in Lahore sought comments from the FIA director on a petition that requested the court to direct the investigation agency to raid the Axact office in Lahore and confiscate its records to make it a part of the inquiry being conducted by FIA officials in Karachi and the twin-cities.

Petitioner Advocate Chaudhry Saeed Zafar told the court that he feared that the management of Axact’s Lahore office might delete all incriminating data.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2015.