Fake degree scam: Axact CEO, four others on physical remand till June 4
Accused unable to explain fake degrees and certificates recovered from their possession.
FIA officials taking back Axact CEO Shoaib Sheikh and his accomplice after hearing at Karachi City Court. PHOTO EXPRESS / IRFAN ALI
KARACHI:
After seizing thousands of fake degrees, certificates and diplomas during a raid at the Axact office in Karachi, the investigators hope to find more details of the multimillion-dollar scam as they take five key accused, including the company’s CEO, into their custody on a week-long physical remand.
A Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) team on Wednesday presented Axact CEO Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh, and four other top officials – Viqas Atique, Zeeshan Anwar, Zeeshan Ahmed and Muhammad Sabir – before a South district judicial magistrate, Noor Muhammad Kalmati, to seek their remand.
The investigation officer of the case, FIA Assistant Director (Corporate Crime Circle) Saeed Ahmed Memon submitted a report before the judge, contending that the suspects were needed to be interrogated ‘thoroughly’ for offences relating to fake educational documents, cybercrime, illegal use of bank accounts and money laundering.
“Besides, the international connections of the suspects in running the alleged scam are also needed to be discovered,” he said.
The FIR of the case, submitted in the court, revealed that the company had a total holding of 600,000 shares with the CEO Shaikh and his wife Ayesha Shaikh having only one share each. The rest of 599, 998 shares were shown to be held by Axact FZ LLC, which is registered in the United Arab Emirates.
Besides preparing, selling and issuing fake educational certificates from school to university level, the accused and other members of Axact management had also established fictitious and non-existent accreditation bodies to portray their institutes as genuine, the FIR said, adding that the money minted from students was deposited in the bank accounts of Axact FZ LLC in Dubai.
It said the money was then brought into the country in bank accounts of the Axact under the guise of software export and the Axact’s management submitted bogus software export statements to the State Bank of Pakistan to hide the illegal origin of their funds.
Investigators told the court that they had seized thousands of fake documents from the company as they raided its Administrative Process Management department in the wee hours of Wednesday under the supervision of area’s judicial magistrate.
The raid was conducted on a lead given by the accused CEO and they recovered documents enough to fill two containers, they said.
The FIR contained names of 44 fake educational institutes with US and Middle Eastern countries’ addresses, as well as titles of eight bogus accreditation bodies.
The raiding team had sealed the offices of Axact as the counting of ‘huge’ number of documents and other material was not possible in a single day.
As the suspects were made to stand in the court, the judge asked them if they had complaint of any maltreatment by the FIA – a question to which they replied in the negative. However, Shaikh and Atique pleaded for medical assistance which was granted. Atique claimed he had a ‘head tumour.’
The five suspects were represented by a panel of more than a dozen lawyers, including the Karachi Bar Association President Naeem Qureshi. Qureshi opposed putting the suspects under physical remand, arguing that there had been enough inquiry already. “The accused should be sent to jail on judicial remand,” he said.
The investigators replied that the suspects were needed to be interrogated for passwords of some computers, which they were not telling. After listening to arguments from both sides, the judge read out his verdict observing the case was of a ‘serious’ nature.
The judge observed that the accused could not give any justification of the fake degrees and certificates recovered from their possession, adding that the matter required more investigation.
While handing over the suspects to police on physical remand till June 4, the judge directed the investigation officer to submit the progress report and investigation diaries on the next hearing.
The case has been registered under Section 420, 468, 471, 472, 473, 474, 477-A, 109, 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 36, 37 of the Electronic Transactions Ordinance and Section 3 and 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2015.
After seizing thousands of fake degrees, certificates and diplomas during a raid at the Axact office in Karachi, the investigators hope to find more details of the multimillion-dollar scam as they take five key accused, including the company’s CEO, into their custody on a week-long physical remand.
A Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) team on Wednesday presented Axact CEO Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh, and four other top officials – Viqas Atique, Zeeshan Anwar, Zeeshan Ahmed and Muhammad Sabir – before a South district judicial magistrate, Noor Muhammad Kalmati, to seek their remand.
The investigation officer of the case, FIA Assistant Director (Corporate Crime Circle) Saeed Ahmed Memon submitted a report before the judge, contending that the suspects were needed to be interrogated ‘thoroughly’ for offences relating to fake educational documents, cybercrime, illegal use of bank accounts and money laundering.
“Besides, the international connections of the suspects in running the alleged scam are also needed to be discovered,” he said.
The FIR of the case, submitted in the court, revealed that the company had a total holding of 600,000 shares with the CEO Shaikh and his wife Ayesha Shaikh having only one share each. The rest of 599, 998 shares were shown to be held by Axact FZ LLC, which is registered in the United Arab Emirates.
Besides preparing, selling and issuing fake educational certificates from school to university level, the accused and other members of Axact management had also established fictitious and non-existent accreditation bodies to portray their institutes as genuine, the FIR said, adding that the money minted from students was deposited in the bank accounts of Axact FZ LLC in Dubai.
It said the money was then brought into the country in bank accounts of the Axact under the guise of software export and the Axact’s management submitted bogus software export statements to the State Bank of Pakistan to hide the illegal origin of their funds.
Investigators told the court that they had seized thousands of fake documents from the company as they raided its Administrative Process Management department in the wee hours of Wednesday under the supervision of area’s judicial magistrate.
The raid was conducted on a lead given by the accused CEO and they recovered documents enough to fill two containers, they said.
The FIR contained names of 44 fake educational institutes with US and Middle Eastern countries’ addresses, as well as titles of eight bogus accreditation bodies.
The raiding team had sealed the offices of Axact as the counting of ‘huge’ number of documents and other material was not possible in a single day.
As the suspects were made to stand in the court, the judge asked them if they had complaint of any maltreatment by the FIA – a question to which they replied in the negative. However, Shaikh and Atique pleaded for medical assistance which was granted. Atique claimed he had a ‘head tumour.’
The five suspects were represented by a panel of more than a dozen lawyers, including the Karachi Bar Association President Naeem Qureshi. Qureshi opposed putting the suspects under physical remand, arguing that there had been enough inquiry already. “The accused should be sent to jail on judicial remand,” he said.
The investigators replied that the suspects were needed to be interrogated for passwords of some computers, which they were not telling. After listening to arguments from both sides, the judge read out his verdict observing the case was of a ‘serious’ nature.
The judge observed that the accused could not give any justification of the fake degrees and certificates recovered from their possession, adding that the matter required more investigation.
While handing over the suspects to police on physical remand till June 4, the judge directed the investigation officer to submit the progress report and investigation diaries on the next hearing.
The case has been registered under Section 420, 468, 471, 472, 473, 474, 477-A, 109, 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 36, 37 of the Electronic Transactions Ordinance and Section 3 and 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2015.