Axact scandal: FIA appeals against acquittal of suspects in SHC

KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) filed an appeal in the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday against the acquittal of Axact chief Shoaib Sheikh and other accused by a district court in the money laundering case against them.

The two-member SHC bench issued a notice to the Axact chairman, its chief executive officer, and FIA to appear before it on February 15.

Moreover, the court also summoned the record of the case proceedings from the district and sessions court that acquitted the accused.

The chief executive and senior officials of Axact, which claims to be the "world's largest IT company" but operates hundreds of fake online universities, were arrested on charges of fraud in May 2015 after an expose` in The New York Times.

The FIA has maintained in its petition that the district court did not take into account strong pieces of evidence of money laundering against the suspects. It added that Sheikh and his aides are on bail in the fraud case against them.

On February 9, hearing the suo motu case on the Axact fake degrees scandal, the Supreme Court had ordered the high courts to wrap up the appeals against the suspects' acquittal within a matter of weeks. 

During the hearing, the chief justice directed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to decide on the government's appeal against the suspects' acquittal in three weeks. 

Similarly, the Sindh High Court (SHC) was directed to form a two-member bench next week and decide on the appeal within 15 days.

The apex court also directed the trial court in Karachi to decide on the prosecution's plea seeking cancellation of the suspects' bail in two weeks.

At present, of the total four cases registered against Axact, the accused have been acquitted in two — one in Islamabad and another in Karachi — while one is under way in Karachi and the last, in Peshawar, is yet to start.