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| Pakistani Investigators Raid Offices of Axact, Fake Diploma Company | Pakistani Investigators Raid Offices of Axact, Fake Diploma Company |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| KARACHI, Pakistan — Pakistani investigators on Tuesday raided the offices of Axact, a software firm in Karachi that has come under scrutiny for running a global diploma mill that made tens of millions of dollars through a network of fake online schools. | KARACHI, Pakistan — Pakistani investigators on Tuesday raided the offices of Axact, a software firm in Karachi that has come under scrutiny for running a global diploma mill that made tens of millions of dollars through a network of fake online schools. |
| Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ordered the investigation after a report by The New York Times described links between Axact and at least 370 websites, many of which purport to be online universities and high schools based in the United States. | Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ordered the investigation after a report by The New York Times described links between Axact and at least 370 websites, many of which purport to be online universities and high schools based in the United States. |
| Within hours, federal investigators escorted by armed officers had shut down the company’s offices in Karachi and Islamabad, seized computers and files, and detained at least 30 people for questioning. Nobody was arrested, although law enforcement officials said that no senior executives had been present at the company’s headquarters, in an upmarket suburb of Karachi. | Within hours, federal investigators escorted by armed officers had shut down the company’s offices in Karachi and Islamabad, seized computers and files, and detained at least 30 people for questioning. Nobody was arrested, although law enforcement officials said that no senior executives had been present at the company’s headquarters, in an upmarket suburb of Karachi. |
| Axact has denied any wrongdoing and tried, unsuccessfully, to silence the media furor surrounding its troubles by issuing threatening legal letters to some news media groups and Internet blogs. The company has accused The Times of “baseless, substandard” reporting, and of colluding with rival news media companies to frustrate the coming start of Bol, its new television network. | |
| But Axact has been powerless to halt a barrage of negative publicity on Pakistan’s main television channels, which have seized with alacrity on the accounts of fake degrees and cheated customers, sometimes building on them with their own reporting. | But Axact has been powerless to halt a barrage of negative publicity on Pakistan’s main television channels, which have seized with alacrity on the accounts of fake degrees and cheated customers, sometimes building on them with their own reporting. |
| Pakistan’s main channels have long viewed Bol, scheduled to start this summer, with a mix of suspicion and trepidation, fed by a persistent perception that the channel and its owners, Axact, are somehow allied with Pakistan’s powerful military. There was an unmistakable sense on Tuesday that the same channels were seizing on Axact’s woes to weaken a potentially formidable competitor. | |
| Some stations published leaked tax documents suggesting that Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh, Axact’s founder and chief executive, paid only 26 cents in income tax in 2014. Geo, the dominant news channel until it clashed with the Pakistani military establishment last year, broadcast details of an official investigation into Axact’s tax affairs that described the company’s taxable income as “ridiculously low.” | Some stations published leaked tax documents suggesting that Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh, Axact’s founder and chief executive, paid only 26 cents in income tax in 2014. Geo, the dominant news channel until it clashed with the Pakistani military establishment last year, broadcast details of an official investigation into Axact’s tax affairs that described the company’s taxable income as “ridiculously low.” |
| The company also came under trenchant attack from different sides of the Pakistani political system. In the upper house of Parliament, Aitzaz Ahsan, a senior leader with the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, said the episode had brought Pakistan into disrepute and called for an official investigation. | The company also came under trenchant attack from different sides of the Pakistani political system. In the upper house of Parliament, Aitzaz Ahsan, a senior leader with the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, said the episode had brought Pakistan into disrepute and called for an official investigation. |
| “What’s the reason that we Pakistanis are such experts in forgery?” he asked. “The matter has to go to the house committee.” | |
| The Interior Ministry, in its statement, said that investigators would determine whether Axact “is involved in any such illegal work which can tarnish the good image of the country in the world.” | The Interior Ministry, in its statement, said that investigators would determine whether Axact “is involved in any such illegal work which can tarnish the good image of the country in the world.” |
| But Axact did have some supporters, largely among conservative and military-friendly commentators who, looking beyond the company’s business dealings, said they resented the fact that officials had moved so quickly on the basis of an American news report. “Govt action against a Pakistani company based on a foreign feature story is a scandal,” the columnist Ahmed Quraishi posted in a Twitter message. | But Axact did have some supporters, largely among conservative and military-friendly commentators who, looking beyond the company’s business dealings, said they resented the fact that officials had moved so quickly on the basis of an American news report. “Govt action against a Pakistani company based on a foreign feature story is a scandal,” the columnist Ahmed Quraishi posted in a Twitter message. |
| More broadly, though, social media was the scene of some of the most withering criticisms of the Axact business model, as journalists and other Pakistanis, apparently uninhibited by fear of legal action on the part of Axact, scoured Axact-run websites and mocked the company’s chief executive, Mr. Shaikh. | More broadly, though, social media was the scene of some of the most withering criticisms of the Axact business model, as journalists and other Pakistanis, apparently uninhibited by fear of legal action on the part of Axact, scoured Axact-run websites and mocked the company’s chief executive, Mr. Shaikh. |
| Bloggers examined the company’s network of online universities and high schools, which carry American-sounding names like Barkley and Columbiana, and publicized the names of other sites that they said were operated by the company, and that went beyond a list published by The Times on Sunday. | |
| Investigators homed in on accusations from former employees that Axact had illegally sold American government authentication to pad its profits. Local news media reported that the police had discovered State Department certificates and letterheads for some of the company’s nonexistent universities during the raid on its premises. | |
| In all, The Times has identified 145 university sites, 41 high school and 18 fake accreditation body websites, as well as 121 degree portals, that strongly appear to be operated by Axact, based on comparison of coding blocks and of site content and design. | |
| Several people who identified themselves as former Axact employees contacted The Times, offering accounts of their experiences working at the company. By Tuesday morning, phone lines at some of the university websites run by Axact were not being answered, and efforts by reporters to contact sales agents through text messaging received no response. | Several people who identified themselves as former Axact employees contacted The Times, offering accounts of their experiences working at the company. By Tuesday morning, phone lines at some of the university websites run by Axact were not being answered, and efforts by reporters to contact sales agents through text messaging received no response. |
| Senior journalists at Bol said the station was expected to begin broadcasting after Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, which will end in mid-July. Some station executives appeared keen to distance themselves from the storm around the station’s parent company. | Senior journalists at Bol said the station was expected to begin broadcasting after Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, which will end in mid-July. Some station executives appeared keen to distance themselves from the storm around the station’s parent company. |
| Kamran Khan, the editor in chief of Bol, said in a Twitter message that the new station had been created to uphold the truth and was “not in the business of cover-ups regardless personal cost or consequences.” | Kamran Khan, the editor in chief of Bol, said in a Twitter message that the new station had been created to uphold the truth and was “not in the business of cover-ups regardless personal cost or consequences.” |
| Local news outlets reported that Mr. Shaikh’s name had been placed on the Exit Control List, which would prevent him from leaving Pakistan. He is due to appear at the Karachi offices of the Federal Investigation Agency on Wednesday morning, officials said. | Local news outlets reported that Mr. Shaikh’s name had been placed on the Exit Control List, which would prevent him from leaving Pakistan. He is due to appear at the Karachi offices of the Federal Investigation Agency on Wednesday morning, officials said. |