Pak to seek FBI, Interpol help in fake degrees scam probe

Pakistan today said that it will seek assistance from FBI and Interpol in investigating fake degrees scam by a Karachi-based IT firm accused of making millions of dollars through an elaborate global network of fictitious universities.
Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan told media here that "substantive progress" has been made in the probe against the company Axact after a report in the New York Times this week accused the firm of running a network of websites for phoney universities as part of an elaborate scheme that generated tens of millions of dollars annually.
"In light of the developments that have come through in the inquiry conducted by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), we have decided to seek assistance from the FBI and Interpol," Khan said.

He said Pakistan may also seek support from Britain but the decision has not been taken yet.
The Minister said different local departments are also helping the FIA in the probe and a decision to launch a formal FIR will be made in the next 10 days.
FIA has already raided Axact's headquarters in Karachi, and offices in Islamabad and Rawalpindi and seized several computers and other relevant documents.

Some of the employees of the company were also taken into custody by the FIA for questioning.
The FIA officials seized computers, hard drives, manual records, documents and equipment from the call centres, during the raids.

The New York Times on May 18 accused Axact, which is registered as a software developing company, of running about 370 websites of fake campuses, accreditation bodies which lure people into buying degrees of universities globally.
Axact set up an elaborate network of hundreds of websites for fake universities with names like "Columbiana" and "Barkley", complete with paid actors who appeared as faculty members and students on promotional videos, the report had alleged.
The company was recently in news for launching Bol television as it was hiring journalists and media experts at exorbitant salaries.
Soon after the news appeared, a message on Axact's website declared the story "baseless, substandard, maligning, defamatory and based on false accusations", adding it would sue The New York Times. It termed the allegation as handiwork of business rivals.