Gulf News reports led to action against Axact
Court adjourns hearing after key accused in $140m fake degrees scam is jailed
Pakistan’s Supreme Court yesterday adjourned the Axact scandal case for a month, following the arrest of the company’s CEO for duping customers worldwide of $140 million in online sales of bogus university degrees.
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Tuesday arrested Shoaib Shaikh, the owner and chief executive officer of Axact, and moved him to Adiala jail, months after his conviction in the fake degree scam case.
The FIA submitted during the Supreme Court hearing yesterday that Shaikh had been moved to Adiala jail, and that one of his key accomplices was also detained at the new Islamabad Airport.
In January this year, Pakistan’s Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar took suo motu notice of reports published in Gulf News’ sister publication XPRESS and other media about the scam, and initiated action.
The man whose revelations led to the collapse of Axact’s global multi-million fake degree empire told Gulf News that he hopes the arrest of Shaikh will pave the way for his return to Pakistan.
The man whose revelations led to the collapse of Axact’s global multi-million dollar fake degree empire and spawned a series of criminal investigations worldwide, said he hoped the arrest of Axact CEO Shoaib Ahmad Shaikh would pave the way for his return to his home country.
Shaikh was jailed in Pakistan on Wednesday after being convicted in the $140 million (Dh514.92 million) fake degrees racket and sentenced to 20 years in prison. “I am relieved that justice has finally been served,” former Axact staffer-turnedwhistle blower Sayyad Yasir Jamshaid, who now lives in the United States, told Gulf News. Facing death threats, Jamshaid fled to the UAE from Pakistan in 2015, before moving to the US. Hundreds of US citizens, including army men, reportedly bought fake degrees and diplomas from the 350-odd fictitious universities propped up by Axact on the internet.
Shaikh was sentenced to 20 years in prison by an Islamabad court in July, but he managed to evade arrest. “The Axact chief had not surrendered to the court, following his conviction and managed to escape,” Pakistani newspaper the Dawn said. According to the newspaper, Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which investigated the scam, reportedly did not make any effort for his arrest during the past two-and-ahalf months. But the FIA finally arrested him on Tuesday after the Pakistan Supreme Court resumed hearing in the case last Thursday.
“Life has not been easy. Axact’s management has implicated me and my family in bogus cases and there’s an arrest warrant out against me in Pakistan. I thought I had done a great service to my country by blowing the lid off an international racket, but look what I got in the bargain?” Jamshaid said. “I hope authorities back home realise that the court cases against me are borne out of vendetta,” he said.
In Islamabad, the FIA submitted, during the Supreme Court hearing yesterday, that Shaikh had been arrested and moved to Adiala Jail. It also informed the court that one of his key accomplices was detained from the New Islamabad International Airport (NIIAP). Nigel Brain was arrested while trying to fly to Qatar with a private airline from NIIAP. Brain is a close friend of Shaikh and a co-accused with the Axact CEO in the fake degrees case. The authorities later handed him over to the Anti-Human Trafficking Cell for further investigation. The apex court has adjourned hearing for a month. SAYYAD YASIR JAMSHAID