Fake degrees scandal: FIA impounds 912 Axact-owned vehicles

FIA obtains permission from Sindh home ministry to move Axact CEO Shoaib Shaikh to Islamabad

KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Sunday seized some 912 cars and motorcycles owned by the controversial IT firm Axact and directed the Excise and Taxation Department not to transfer ownership of any of the vehicles until further orders.

According to sources, the agency dispatched a letter containing a list of the vehicles – which include some 700 cars, ranging from luxury Mercedes models to the more economic Suzuki Mehran – to the Excise and Taxation department along with instructions to keep files on these vehicles closed until further orders.

They added that the fate of these vehicles is expected to be decided next week.

Preparations to move the head of controversial IT firm Axact are in the final stages, according to sources.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has obtained permission from the Sindh home ministry to move Shoaib Shaikh, chief executive officer of the tech company which was allegedly running a highly-profitable diploma mills operation, sources said. They added that Shaikh will be moved to the federal capital – where cases against him, his wife and several Axact employees will be heard – in a couple of days.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2015.