SC orders trial court to conclude Axact fake degree case within six weeks

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday directed a trial court in Karachi to conclude the Axact fake degree case within six weeks.

As Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar heard the Axact fake degree case, the deputy attorney general informed the court that four cases pertaining to the fake degree mill were ongoing—two in Karachi and one each in Islamabad and Peshawar.

The deputy attorney general further said that Axact had submitted a request to conclude the case ongoing in the court in Islamabad. At this, the chief justice asked, “The case is being heard in a Karachi court since 2015, what has been the cause of delay?”

Director General Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Bashir Memon then told the court that the investigation officer had recorded his statement.

“In the case that was heard in an Islamabad court, the sentence has been suspended while bail has been granted in the second case that was heard in Karachi. The trial was not allowed to take place in the case in Peshawar,” Memon added.

Justice Nisar then remarked, “Suspension of sentences has become a tradition. Shoaib Sheikh maligned the name of the country and his trial will take place in the Supreme Court.”

The court then directed that from the case ongoing in Karachi, one be concluded within six weeks and the other within three months. “If a decision is not given within the time-frame then clarification will be needed,” the bench said.

The hearing of the case was then adjourned till October 31.

On October 23, the Islamabad High Court had suspended Axact's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shoaib Sheikh's 20-year jail term and granted him bail against surety bonds worth Rs500,000. In July, an Islamabad sessions court had convicted Sheikh and 22 others in the fake degree scam case and awarded 20 years imprisonment under different charges. 

Axact fake degree case

The issue came to the fore in 2015 when The New York Times published an article, claiming Axact sold fake degrees online through hundreds of fictitious schools.

After the issue surfaced, the offices of the company were sealed and its chief executive officer and other officials were arrested.

A senior manager of the company, Umair Hamid, was sentenced to 21 months in a US prison in August 2017 for his part in Axact's fraud.

According to the US Department of Justice’s website, Hamid pled guilty on April 6 this year to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. “He entered the guilty plea before a US District judge who imposed today’s sentence.”

Hamid, an executive of Axact, was arrested on Dec 19, 2016, according to a statement by former Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara. He was produced in a federal court in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, the following day.

According to the department of justice, Hamid was involved in running a “massive diploma mill” through Axact. The mill tricked people from across the world into enrolling in supposed high schools, colleges, and universities.

“Consumers paid upfront fees, believing that in return they would be enrolled in real educational courses and, eventually, receive legitimate degrees. Instead, consumers received no instruction and worthless diplomas,” the website said.