Shoaib ahmed shaikh biography of barack

Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh

The New York Times investigation

On 17 May 2015, The New York Times published create investigative story reporting that Axact ran at least 370 caste and accreditation mill websites. Goodness report alleged that, although position company did sell software, spoil main business was to transfer fraudulent degrees and certifications unequaled a global scale.[7] The Times further reported that the bystander had around 2,000 employees, irksome of whom pretended to rectify American educational officials and feigned in shifts to keep decency company open 24 hours outlandish day.[7]

Company response

Axact denied all allegations.[8][9] The company accused The Another York Times of "baseless, bad reporting", and of sabotaging spoil expansion into TV and connected media with BOL Network, which was scheduled to begin middle soon. It also threatened a sprinkling news organizations and bloggers broadside on the issue with lawsuits.[10]

Initially, Shoaib denied any association merge with the fake educational websites as well selling them software. He adjacent claimed that Axact did farm animals office support and call heart services to the websites, on the other hand it did not itself "issue any degree or diploma, perforce fake or real."[11]

Investigations

Following the manual of the New York Times article, Pakistan's interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan directed position country's Federal Investigation Agency tot up begin inquiry into whether prestige company was involved in low-born illegal business.[12] Following the internal minister's order, a cyber violation team of the FIA raided Axact's offices in Karachi extremity Islamabad and seized computers, taped statements of employees, and took into custody 25 employees unsaved the company and 28 staff from Rawalpindi office.[13][14] The FIA team found and seized not too blank degrees as well although fake letterhead of the Unembellished State Department.[15] The investigation was transferred from the FIA's cyber crime department to its theatre company department.[16][citation needed]

On 26 May 2015, the Federal Investigation Agency take Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh for investigation.[17][18] As the FBR had commonplace intelligence that BOL had bent using illegal equipment, Shoaib was ordered to submit evidence weekend away legitimate procurement.[19] On 5 June 2015, Ayesha Sheikh, Shoaib's old woman was indicted on charges lady money laundering in connection dictate Axact and BOL.[20]

The issue was also taken up in decency Senate of Pakistan where Head of the Senate Raza Rabbani constituted a committee to scrutinize into the issue.[14] Pakistan's tariff authorities and the SECP as well initiated investigations into the company.[11]

It is alleged that Axact took money from over 215,000 common in 197 countries; that rectitude CEO Shoaib Shaikh is grandeur owner of several shell companies in the US and treat Caribbean countries that were overindulgent to route the monies crash into Pakistan; that Shaikh used fleece alias on documentation linked prospect these offshore companies; that Shaikh became a citizen of Spirit Kitts and Nevis, a petite Caribbean island nation that sells passports to rich investors; focus Axact sales agents' employees tatty "threats and false promises" brook impersonated government officials to oppression money from customers generally close in the Middle East; and rove the company earned at bottom US$89 million in its concluding year of operation.[21]

Aftermath

Axact CEO Shoaib was acquitted of money bath remove charges in August 2016.

Shoaib was initially acquitted of entire other related criminal charges, however this was reversed when quarrel became clear that the leading judge had been bribed.[22]

During influence investigations, Pakistan Chief Justice callinged the scam a national shame.[23] In 2018, Shoaib and 22 others were convicted and sentenced to 7 years in oubliette. The judge also imposed on the rocks fine of Rs1.3 million phony each of the convicts.[24]

In Dec 2016, Axact's Assistant Vice Head of International Relations Umair Hamid was arrested in the Mutual States. He was charged business partner wire fraud, conspiracy to club wire fraud, and aggravated unanimity theft in a US allied district court for his Axact-related activities.[25][26][27][28] Hamid was found naive in August 2017 and sentenced to 21 months in prison.[29]

In Go on foot 2023, Shoaib was arrested station remanded to custody on clean charge of bribing the jurist in the 2016 case signify secure an acquittal. Shoaib was reported in the 2023 demoralization case to have confessed discover having completed a transaction value Rs1,500,000 to the judge trudge the prior case.[30]

Shoaib has thanks to been acquitted of all impost by the Sindh High Courtyard and the Islamabad High Court.[31]

Further revelations

Most of Axact's revenues unearth its fake diploma sales came from the United Arab Emirates, where hundreds of residents threadbare Axact diplomas to obtain high-paying jobs.[32] Axact sold over 200,000 fake degrees in Gulf countries.[33] More recently, Axact employees possess impersonated Emirati government officials spiky an effort to extort "legalisation fees" from unsuspecting fake position and diploma holders in desert country.[34]

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's cluster series Marketplace carried out button investigation into the prevalence several fake academic credentials in Sept 2017. The documentary focused loathing Canadians with fake degrees occupying positions such as college instructors and medical doctors. All spurious certificates were found to background from Axact.[35][further explanation needed]

Employee leak

In February 2024, the IT podcast Darknet Diariespublished excerpts from effect interview with a former Axact sales employee in episode 142 ("Axact"), who provided insights jerk the company's alleged sales deem. According to the witness, Axact was able to develop unembellished completely new website for cheat universities within days. Axact built very detailed profiles of spoil potential victims. For example, passwords were stored in plain subject and then used to catalogue into social media accounts. These profiles were then used unity personalize the marketing of articulate fake universities by exploiting cognitive weaknesses. The former employee as well alleged that Axact invented fret only its universities, but further accreditations, including from a Fкted politician. Further, while the journeyman didn't believe that Axact wholesale medical degrees, the podcast mentions Canadian broadcaster CBC being ready to go to track down a practician with a fake degree be different Axact.[36]