Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday detained five more employees of Axact, after detaining CEO, Shoaib Shaikh.
According to FIA sources, a FIA team led by Director General FIA Sindh, Shahid Hayat, raided the company’s Karachi headquarters and took five employees into custody.
Read: FIA takes Axact’s CEO Shoaib Sheikh into custody
FIA source added that Shaikh revealed the location of the blank degrees that were ready for printing as well as fake student ID cards during the course of an interrogation.
Shaikh is currently in FIA custody and is expected to be produced before a court to be formally charged later in the day.
“We have now sufficient evidence against the firm and will proceed accordingly to file a case,” Shahid Hayat told AFP.
Reports said the six directors would be charged under laws relating to fraud, cheating, money laundering, and illegal electronic money transfer.
The government began investigating Axact after it was accused by the New York Times earlier this month of running a network of websites for phoney universities as part of an elaborate scheme that generated tens of millions of dollars annually.
Islamabad has also sought the FBI and Interpol’s assistance in the probe.
Axact had also announced plans to launch a news channel called Bol, which had hired many of Pakistan’s leading TV anchors at above-market salaries. Many of the journalists have resigned in the wake of the scandal. (PhotoNews / AFP)
