ISLAMABAD (SW): A multi-million dollars worth of global fake degrees and diploma scandal compelled authorities in Pakistan to launched investigation into the local firm Axact.
On May 17, the New York Times published an extensive investigative report accusing the Pakistani firm for selling fake degrees and diplomas through hundreds of fictitious schools purportedly located in the United States.
The report by NYT’s Pakistan Correspondent Declan Walsh said Axact used fabricated news reports, paid actors to perform as professors and showcased university campuses exist only as stock photos on computer servers to lure its clients.
“Axact makes tens of millions of dollars annually by offering diplomas and degrees online through hundreds of fictitious schools. Fake accreditation bodies and testimonials lend the schools an air of credibility. But when customers call, they are talking to Axact sales clerks in Karachi”, the report claimed.
After the initial publication of this article, Axact posted a public response on its website, saying it would seek legal action.
“Axact condemns this story as baseless, substandard, maligning and defamatory. It has been published without taking the company’s point of view in perspective. The defamatory article published on 18th May, 2015, today’s events and their derogatory portrayal by the media proves that this is a massive conspiracy by the seths (owners) of the Pakistani media industry to defame BOL and Axact and derail the launch of BOL”, it said in reference to its upcoming TV channel.
“We appeal to the public to analyze the situation with compassion and rationality and we request the government to take notice of the fact that a massive anti-BOL and Axact movement has been put into operation”, it added.
Meanwhile, the country’s Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) has launched investigation into the case.
FIA’s cyber crime unit entered local IT company Axact's Islamabad and Karachi offices on Tuesday and collected manuals, records and computers as evidence in the ongoing investigation of a global fake degrees scam.
Local media has quoted Kamran Ataullah, a deputy director at the FIA in Karachi, saying the investigation would not be limited to the contents of the NYT article.
No one has been arrested or taken into custody at the Karachi office as yet, they added. Employees, particularly IT employees, were not allowed to leave the office premises during the investigations.
ENDS
