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Axact Pvt. Ltd.

Native name	ایگزیکٹ
Industry	Software
Founded	1997
Founder	Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh
Headquarters	Karachi, Pakistan
Products	IT software, illegitimate academic qualifications
Owner	Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh
Website	www.axact.com

Axact (Urdu: ایگزیکٹ) is a Pakistan software company that runs numerous websites selling fraudulent academic degrees for fictional universities. The company used to own the media company BOL Network.

History

Axact was founded by Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh, who serves as its chairman. It is based in Karachi, and has over 2,000 employees. According to Shaikh, the company was founded in 1997 with fewer than 10 employees working in a single room. In 2013 he said Axact was the world's leading IT company and that it had eight broad-business units and products, more than 5,200 employees, and associated globally and as many as 8.3 million customers worldwide. The company website said in 2015 that the company had 10 diverse business units that offer more than 23 products, more than two billion users, and a global presence across 6 continents, 120 countries and 1,300 cities with more than 25,000 employees and associates. Axact's employee figures on its website contradict each other.

According to Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan records, the company was registered in June 2006 and had a paid up capital of Rs. 6 million (US$58,860) by 2010. Government records show that it paid an income tax of approximately Rs. 18,90,000 (US$18,543) for the year 2014, and that Shaikh paid a personal income tax of Rs. 26 (US$0.26) for the same year.

In September 2018, Shoaib Shaikh, the owner and CEO was arrested and sentenced to 20 years for the scam along with 22 of his staff members.

Fake diplomas scandal

The New York Times investigation

On 17 May 2015, The New York Times published an investigative story reporting that Axact ran at least 370 degree and accreditation mill websites. The report alleged that, although the company did sell software, its main business was to sell fraudulent degrees and certifications on a global scale. The Times further reported that the company had around 2,000 employees, some of whom pretended to be American educational officials and worked in shifts to keep the company open 24 hours per day.

Company response

Axact denied all allegations. The company accused The New York Times of "baseless, substandard reporting", and of sabotaging its expansion into TV and related media with BOL Network, which was scheduled to begin operations soon. It also threatened several news organizations and bloggers reporting on the issue with lawsuits.

Initially, Shoaib denied any association with the fake educational websites besides selling them software. He later claimed that Axact did provide office support and call center services to the websites, but it did not itself "issue any degree or diploma, whether fake or real."

Investigations

Following the publication of the New York Times article, Pakistan's interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan directed the country's Federal Investigation Agency to begin inquiry into whether the company was involved in any illegal business. Following the interior minister's order, a cyber crime team of the FIA raided Axact's offices in Karachi and Islamabad and seized computers, recorded statements of employees, and took into custody 25 employees of the company and 28 employees from Rawalpindi office. The FIA team found and seized several blank degrees as well as fake letterhead of the US State Department. The investigation was transferred from the FIA's cyber crime department to its corporate department.

On 26 May 2015, the Federal Investigation Agency arrested Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh for investigation. As the FBR had received intelligence that BOL had been using illegal equipment, Shoaib was ordered to submit evidence of legitimate procurement. On 5 June 2015, Ayesha Sheikh, Shoaib's wife was indicted on charges of money laundering in connection with Axact and BOL.

The issue was also taken up in the Senate of Pakistan where Chairman of the Senate Raza Rabbani constituted a committee to probe into the issue. Pakistan's tax authorities and the SECP also initiated investigations into the company.

It is alleged that Axact took money from over 215,000 people in 197 countries; that the CEO Shoaib Shaikh is the owner of several shell companies in the US and other Caribbean countries that were used to route the monies into Pakistan; that Shaikh used an alias on documentation linked to these offshore companies; that Shaikh became a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis, a small Caribbean island nation that sells passports to rich investors; that Axact sales agents' employees used "threats and false promises" and impersonated government officials to take money from customers generally in the Middle East; and that the company earned at least US$89 million in its final year of operation.

Aftermath

Axact CEO Shoaib was acquitted of money laundering charges in August 2016.

Shoaib was initially acquitted of all other related criminal charges, but this was reversed when it became clear that the presiding judge had been bribed.

During the investigations, Pakistan Chief Justice called the scam a national shame. In 2018, Shoaib and 22 others were convicted and sentenced to 7 years in prison. The judge also imposed a fine of Rs1.3 million on each of the convicts.

In December 2016, Axact's Assistant Vice President of International Relations Umair Hamid was arrested in the United States. He was charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft in a US federal district court for his Axact-related activities. Hamid was found guilty in August 2017 and sentenced to 21 months in prison.

In March 2023, Shoaib was arrested and remanded to custody on a charge of bribing the judge in the 2016 case to secure an acquittal. Shoaib was reported in the 2023 bribery case to have confessed to having completed a transaction worth Rs1,500,000 to the judge in the prior case.

Shoaib has since been acquitted of all charges by the Sindh High Court and the Islamabad High Court.

Further revelations

Most of Axact's revenues from its fake diploma sales came from the United Arab Emirates, where hundreds of residents used Axact diplomas to obtain high-paying jobs. Axact sold over 200,000 fake degrees in Gulf countries. More recently, Axact employees have impersonated Emirati government officials in an effort to extort "legalisation fees" from unsuspecting fake degree and diploma holders in that country.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's television series Marketplace carried out an investigation into the prevalence of fake academic credentials in September 2017. The documentary focused on Canadians with fake degrees occupying positions such as college instructors and medical doctors. All fraudulent certificates were found to be from Axact.

Employee leak

In February 2024, the IT podcast Darknet Diaries published excerpts from an interview with a former Axact sales employee in episode 142 ("Axact"), who provided insights into the company's alleged sales strategy. According to the witness, Axact was able to develop a completely new website for non-existent universities within days. Axact created very detailed profiles of its potential victims. For example, passwords were stored in plain text and then used to log into social media accounts. These profiles were then used to personalize the marketing of said fake universities by exploiting psychological weaknesses. The former employee also alleged that Axact invented not only its universities, but also accreditations, including from a US politician. Further, while the employee didn't believe that Axact sold medical degrees, the podcast mentions Canadian broadcaster CBC being able to track down a practitioner with a fake degree from Axact.

Network of websites

A New York Times investigation identified more than 370 websites associated with Axact's alleged fake diploma operations, including 145 sites for fictitious universities, 41 for high schools, 18 for fake accreditation boards, and 121 degree portals. The following is an incomplete list of those websites:

Educational websites

Accredited Degrees Pro
Accredited Online Degrees Now
Adamsville University
Advance Online Degrees
Affordable Accredited Degrees
Affordable Degrees Pro
Al Arab University
Al Khaleej University
Al Khalifa American University
Alford High School
Almeda University
Alpine University
American Gulf University
American Mideast University
Anchor Point University
Arab Continental University
Arab Women University
Ashbery University
Ashley University
Ashwood University
Bakerville University
Barkley University
Bay View University
Baycity University
Baytown University
Beacon Falls High School
Belford High School
Belford University
Belltown University
Branton University
Brooklyn Park University
Brooksville High School
Brooksville University
Buffville High School
California Creek University
Cambell State University
Camp Lake University
Chapel University
Columbiana University
Corllins University
Creek View University
Crestford University
Drumount University
Fast Online University
Federal High School
Ford Worth High School
Fort Jones University
Foster City High School
Galewood University
Gatesville University
Gene Kranz University
Gibson University
Glenford University
Global Institute of English Language Training and Certification
Grant Town University
GreenLake University
Grendal University
Hadly University
Hansford University
Harvey University
Headway University
High School Diploma Experience
High School Diploma Fast
High School Diploma Pro
High School Diploma Professionals
High School Diploma Profs
Hill Online Degrees
Hill University
James Adam University
James Harding University
Jersey High School
Johnstown University
Kennedy University
Kings Lake University
Kingsbridge University
Laurus University
Lorenz High School
Luther City High School
Madison Hills University
Mary Grand High School
Mayfield University
McCain High School
McFord High School
McFord University
McGraw Online Degrees
McGraw University
McHill High School
McKinley University
Midtown University
Mount Lincoln University
MUST University
Nelson Bay University
Nicholson University
Nixon University
Northern Port University
Northway University
Oscarmount University
Olford Walters University
Online University Profs
Online University Programs Pro
Olympia Creek University
Oxdell University
Pacific High School
Panworld High School
Panworld University
Paramount California University
Parkfield University
Payne Springs University
Pine Hill University
Pittsford University
Port Jefferson University
Queen City University
Queens Bay University
Queensville University
Ray University
Redding University
Riverwood University
Rochville University
Roseville Community College
St. Angelo High School
Stenford High School
Thompson University
Universal Online Degrees
Victorville High School
WalesBridge University
Walford University
West Coast High School
Western Advanced Central University
Western Valley Central University
Westland University
Wilburton University
Wiley University
Wilford University
Willington University
WinFord High School
Windham University
Woodbridge University
Woodfield High School
Woodfield University
Woodrow University

Accreditation websites

Accreditation Bureau of Online Education and Training
Arab Accreditation Council
Association for Accreditation of Business Schools and Programs
European Accreditation Board for Online Education
European Accreditation Council for Online Learning
Global Accreditation Board for Distance Learning
Global Doctorate Council
Gulf Accreditation Council
Gulf Bureau of Higher Education
Gulf Engineering Council
International Accreditation Board for Business Studies
International Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Education
Education International Accreditation Board for Psychology Education
Education International Accreditation Council for Open Education
International Accreditation Organization
International Business Accreditation and Regulatory Commission
International Medical Science Commission Ghotki.

References

"Pakistan jails Axact boss over $140m fake diploma scam". gulfnews.com. 26 September 2018. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
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External links

Official website

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