FIA forms committees to probe Axact, Khanani and Kalia cases

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency on Wednesday formed two committees to probe Axact and Khanani and Kalia cases, upon directives by the interior minister.

On December 30, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar had announced that a prosecution committee was being formed to probe the Axact fake degree scandal, after an Axact executive was charged by a US Federal Court for his part in a $140 million fake diploma mill scheme.

Umair Hamid, 30, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scam that impacted tens of thousands of consumers.

Nisar, holding a presser in Islamabad, had said that two more committees were being formed to probe the Axact and Khanani and Kalia money laundering case.

The two committees, headed by Deputy Director Jamel Ahmed, will comprise of four officials, according to the Ministry of Interior. These were formed to thoroughly probe all facts and take the two important cases to their logical end.

The ministry said investigations into Khanani and Kalia money laundering case, initiated in 2008, were stalled due to unspecified reasons during the tenure of former government. It said the entire record of the case was also disposed off.

The investigations into the Axact case were affected, the ministry said, due to ailment of the investigating officer.