FIR registered against Axact CEO, six others in fake degree scam
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KARACHI: A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against seven individuals including Axact director and CEO Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh as well as a UAE-based company, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) sources said on Wednesday.
According to FIA sources, FIR (7/2015) was registered through Saeed Memon — the assistant director of FIA's corporate crime circle — on behalf of the state. The individuals named in the FIR were subsequently arrested and are in FIA remand until June 7, DawnNews reported.
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| A copy of the FIR obtained by Dawn |
The FIR was registered under Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the accused have been booked under sections 420, 468, 471, 472, 473, 474, 477-A, 109 and 34.
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| A copy of the FIR obtained by Dawn |
Special laws were also invoked against the accused under sections 36 and 37 sections of the Electronic Transaction Ordinance 2002 and section 3/4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2010.
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| A copy of the FIR obtained by Dawn |
Apart from Shaikh, others accused were identified as MS/Axact FZLLC — a UAE company which holds a major chunk of shares — and Waqas Atiq, Zeeshan Anwar, Zeeshan Ahmed, Haris Siddiqi, Farhan Kamal, Umair Hamid.
According to contents of the FIR, Shaikh and his wife Ayesha Shoaib Shaikh hold one share each in the company, while the UAE company FZLLC holds 599,998 shares.
According to FIA sources, this information was received from the Security Exchange Company of Pakistan (SECP).
The sources familiar with content of the FIR told Dawn that Shaikh is a paid CEO as well as the director of Axact and his wife is also a paid director as per form 29 and form-A provided by SECP to the FIA for legal assistance.
In the early hours of Wednesday, Axact CEO and centre of a massive fake degree fraud, Shoaib Ahmad Shaikh was taken into custody from his office.
In the presence of officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) as well as police, Shaikh was taken away in a white vehicle.
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| Shoaib Ahmad Shaikh talking to FIA director Shahid Hayat as reporters look on |
The arrest came after an FIA raid on the Axact office on Khayaban-e-Ittehad, where officials said a large number of university degrees and student identification cards were recovered.
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| A view of a room sealed by FIA in one of Axact's Karachi offices.— DawnNews screengrab |
Also read: Editorial-Fake degree scandal
Shaikh had earlier requested the Sindh High Court to grant him protective bail against a ‘potential arrest’ in the fake degrees probe currently being undertaken by the FIA. However, his request was dismissed Monday, as the bench did not find any merit in his application.
The FIA has decided to file a case against Shaikh. According to FIA officials, Shaikh would formally be arrested after registration of a first information report (FIR).
Last week, action against Axact kicked off after Nisar ordered an inquiry into the story published by The New York Times that claimed the company was issuing fake degrees as part of a massive, global scam.
Take a look: Nisar vows transparent investigation of Axact fake degree scam
The minister in his directive also said that the FIA was to determine whether the contents of the NYT story were true and whether the company was involved in any illegal business which may bring a "bad name" to Pakistan.
The detailed NYT report titled "Fake Diplomas, Real Cash: Pakistani Company Axact Reaps Millions" and written by New York Times Pakistan bureau chief Declan Walsh outlined how Axact — referred to as a "secretive Pakistani software company" — allegedly earned millions of dollars from scams involving fake degrees, non-existent online universities and manipulation of customers.
Know more: Damning NYT report uncovers Axact's fake degrees scam
According to the report, Axact created a series of fake websites involving “professors” and students who it said were in fact paid actors.
FIA officers swooped on the Karachi headquarters of the company last week, seizing equipment and records and expelling employees from the building.
The company's Rawalpindi office had also been sealed and employees questioned, an official said requesting anonymity.
The interior minister also assured that the ministry will not bear pressure from any individual regarding investigation of the Axact scandal. He added that the investigation will be fair and transparent in this regard.
Read more
On DawnNews
Comments (155) Closed
May 27, 2015 02:30am
great jod FIA
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May 27, 2015 02:35am
"WHITE VEHICLE", What Kind of Vehicle is That?!!!.
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May 27, 2015 02:48am
authorities should also identify each and every one of those who received their degrees, and inform their employers.
Individuals with Unearned degrees, unearned wealth through tax evasion and money laundering should also be on their targets.
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May 27, 2015 02:49am
Please those also who are sitting in the parliament with fake degrees.
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May 27, 2015 02:50am
All the accomplices should also be arrested..!!
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May 27, 2015 02:52am
This looks a quite fictitious and with out any credible evidence move. Look we are acting on the news item of a journalist who was proved persona non grata by Pakistani Government and was forced to move out from Pakistan. The other fact which make the process suspicious that if Axact was involved in the fake degree scam than why they still possess the fake items in their possession even after the news broke out on Electronic and Social Media. It appears an orchestrated story.
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May 27, 2015 02:57am
Case closed? Or is there more to come
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May 27, 2015 03:02am
His time has come...crime never pays!
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May 27, 2015 03:10am
Is there any record how manay fake degree AXACT has sold? Will be the people whose money AXACT took be refunded?
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May 27, 2015 03:36am
Media has an obligation to tell exactly what AXACT stands for. Bring culprits to the book.
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May 27, 2015 04:27am
We need to know the political connection behind this organization. There is a rumor that this organization was supported by a certain political party - we need to know the name of the party. Also, we need to know how many bureaucrats and politicians in the offices obtained a degree form this organization and how many others residing in foreign countries got immigration using the fake degrees from this organization.
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May 27, 2015 04:47am
Has anything like that happened anywhere before? There were and are lot of fake online colleges all over US and UK but never anyone arrested. Its buyer beware situation. But pakistan is different. Bigger criminal roam free. Whole business of Axact destroyed and people made jobless. If they were providing services to other organizations, they would have their paperwork.
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May 27, 2015 05:07am
Great job ! Justice must take its course.
Only wish would be that this sort of action is consistent across the board and not just reserved for those who are not politically connected (yet).
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May 27, 2015 05:38am
Case would be thrown out- his activities highly immoral but not illegal.
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May 27, 2015 05:48am
What perplexes me is that a newspaper thousands of miles away finds out all about this company, but Pakistan government, with all its might, has not been able to suspect if for years
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May 27, 2015 05:57am
The Pakistani FIA must not make hasty decisions. They will be destroying a company who employed thousand of pakistani employees. In US, after the financial crisis, no CEOs went to jail because US protected their banking system.
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May 27, 2015 06:01am
@Harmony-1
Unfortunately crime does pay and it pays well. Only the careless are caught.
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May 27, 2015 06:02am
His fake degree unit should be closed and fined but in the larger interest of country as well as those who are working for legit business govt should not shut down the whole company or go beyond a certain limit.There were wrong things committed by many financial institutions in U.S. Which caused the great financial meltdown ,millions lost jobs,houses etc but not a single person was arrested or punished.Contarary those institutions were saved by govt in the larger interest of country.When we will learn to think about Pakistan first.
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May 27, 2015 06:05am
Might be there would score of companies engaged in such business and never high lighted.
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May 27, 2015 06:17am
@Harmony-1 what about sharif brothers??
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May 27, 2015 06:32am
@Pronoy Pal unlikely, as all those ppl knew that they are buying fake degrees!!
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May 27, 2015 06:58am
Where's the fraud? Did people receiving degree not know about their veracity?
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May 27, 2015 07:22am
Axact is well known to every one for fake degree since last fifteen years.
Do we always need to act on reports from international media. ? What our intelligence agencies doing...
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May 27, 2015 07:31am
FIA must get the list of fake degrees which have been sold by AXACT, what nation should be worried about there may be hundreds Doctors, dentists, and Nurses working in our Hospitals and also MNA's sitting in parliament. Ring masters should be put in prison for minimum 10 years and they must serve full 10 years. Please please don't do MuCk mucka
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May 27, 2015 07:31am
Let's see if the real owner of this company would be tracked! Unfortunate he is a political big fish who will never be caught.
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May 27, 2015 07:31am
@Pronoy Pal money refunded?????????????? all fake degree holders should be behind bars
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May 27, 2015 07:33am
Fair and transparent - Nisar we sincerely hope this is the first in Pakistan and please complete the investigation in this decade - to put it mildly matters do drag on and on when the well connected are involved. Sadly the elite are above the law in Pakistan.
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May 27, 2015 07:49am
All the journalist from Bool who resigned and ran away. Their accounts and tax returns needs to be checked. No one should be above the law.
For those people who took classes and got cheated with a fake degree. They should get a refund because most likely majority of them are going to lose their jobs.
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May 27, 2015 07:54am
Why not taking same action against Pakistani politicians and doctors who are in office due to same sort of degrees.
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May 27, 2015 08:02am
At the very outset I must record my utmost appreciation for Interior Minister Ch Nisar who very urgently took cognizance of such burning news and issued instructions to our law enforcing agencies to come into immediate action and had the minister not taken it up alike then I believe the fake degrees issue had died out and after some days none could even remember it. Secondly I simply cannot help writing that Delcan Wash must be very suitably honored for telling us about fake degrees issued by Axact and I am sure President Mamnoon and Prime Minister Nawaz cannot be ignorant on the issue and rather on the contra by now they must have issued instructions to the concerned officials to contact Declan and make arrangements for holding a function in Islamabad honoring Delcan. I must salute both Ch Nisar and Delcan. Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait / zaidi4merdiplomat@hotmail.com
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May 27, 2015 08:06am
@Harmony-1
This fake degree will pay many , with some getting briefcase full load
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May 27, 2015 08:09am
In Pakistan, money is the supreme power and above the law, he is not worried and he is not getting punished, what he did was much of a smaller sin than what the rulers of this country do, he exploited loopholes in corporate recruitment and legal systems that is all.
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May 27, 2015 08:10am
@goodDeedsLeadTo Authorities do not go after thousands of people, they do not have that sort of time, its the job of corporates and organizations to verify degrees properly.
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May 27, 2015 08:14am
Axact's ownership of the fake universities/colleges need to be established. Otherwise, finding degress or any other material related to those universities does not prove anything as Axact simply be printing those degrees or other material as a third party. Similarly, operating a platform to support the online education system and running a call centre to promote the fake universities cannot be considered as a crime.
Unless the proof of Axact ownership of those fake universities comes to light I have reason to believe Axact's version of events.
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May 27, 2015 08:18am
Axact is in trouble because they did not pay the currupt mafia groups in Pakistan.
This is a set up, right from the New york time news report, there should be a Judicial
enquiry in this matter, to find the real truth.
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May 27, 2015 08:22am
Axact is in trouble because they did not pay the currupt mafia political groups in Pakistan
This is a set up right from the New York times report, there must be a Judicial Enquiry
of supreme court to find the truth in this matter
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May 27, 2015 08:38am
@goodDeedsLeadTo I couldn't agree more.
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May 27, 2015 08:40am
For how many years this has been going on and nobody bothered to check it. There should be detailed investigation that why government agencies did not take action against Axact
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May 27, 2015 08:50am
@riaz
Not necessarily everybody knew that they were buying fake degrees, as the website said degrees could be obtained against work experience of a relevant kind. People in a particular job profile for, say, 15 years could be tempted to write a small thesis and get a higher degree for some processing/evaluation fee. However, some background check was necessary for all Axact customers before paying up.
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May 27, 2015 09:21am
From my point of view, what ever Shoaib was doing, he was helping lots of families with jobs, food, medical insurance for the families etc. Pakistan should not have done with him this way by throwing his name in media 24/7, I guess media has poor job and they are the ones showing Pakistan's bad image.
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May 27, 2015 09:29am
Pakistan needs a strong leader like Modi who has stopped all scams in India and taking the country to the path of development.
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May 27, 2015 09:33am
If proven i hope the authority confiscate the account and refund the chaps for fake degree even partially
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May 27, 2015 09:35am
What about the accountability and negligence of the FIA and other investigative agencies, for not spotting the scandal on time which ultimately culminating into embarrassment of the whole nation world over.
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May 27, 2015 09:36am
His alleged business was thriving because demand for fake degrees exists especially from western countries who knew very well that they were getting fake degrees for cash. shouldnt these people also investigated for cheating their employers?
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May 27, 2015 09:48am
All said and done the credit goes to Ch.Nisar on whose initiative the proceedings started.In Rehman Malik tenure it would have a different story.
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May 27, 2015 09:53am
It's the first time the Court has rejected the protective bail otherwise it's business as usual to give bail to everyone at large.
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May 27, 2015 09:59am
What about the employees ? Will FIA arrest all of them or will arrest few senior management ?
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May 27, 2015 10:02am
Axact has been doing this business since year 2006, but why it comes into probe when BOL is going to launch. why all of the media is after this news, seems like there is no crime bigger than that
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May 27, 2015 10:10am
If an online university outsources its back office including printing and emailing of university documents/degrees, is that a crime ?
In USA this happens all the time. Why isn't FBI (USA) not taking interest in this case? Why isn't FBI taking actions against these online universities operating in US? if this a crime in USA then FBI will not looking the other way!
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May 27, 2015 10:13am
Why they arrest him? The thousands of people all over the world who were buying their degrees, despite knowing that its all fake, should also be arrested. I read somewhere that there are about 3500 fake universities on web. Exact makes about 10%. What about the rest of the universities? It seems like that exact was caught and highlighted because its HQ is in Pakistan. And shame on our Media and Government. Instead of hiding our internal flaws, they are making it more public and loud.
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May 27, 2015 10:21am
@SALMAN No No No... they are really poor people, but they are above the law, there is no use to mention them.
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May 27, 2015 10:28am
@Pronoy Pal Joking?
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May 27, 2015 10:39am
Habib Bank Ltd. too has a policy for its employee to get higher degree so as to be eligible
for next promotion as such flouted the list of these fake universities among the employee to select the kind of subject they choose to qualify and almost who applied got the degrees and all the expenses bear by the bank. all these universities were owned by Axact.
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May 27, 2015 10:56am
Nothing will happen as this is Pakistan. This man has amassed a fortune by selling Fake degrees. He can easily bribe the top officials and get away with this. Maybe he would not be able to operate this fake degree mill ever again, but still he would be roaming the streets like a free man
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May 27, 2015 10:57am
Its too sad to read the story. These people don't know that they are are showing a very bad picture of Pakistan to the world.
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May 27, 2015 11:01am
Still, I am not convinced, I smell consipracy against BOL. I dont know why my 6th sense does not let me believe all whats hapening against aXact & BOL.
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May 27, 2015 11:26am
PAKISTANI software company???
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May 27, 2015 11:31am
People in the parliament with fake degrees should also be arrested, or at least be sent home with lifetime ban to hold any govt/public position.
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May 27, 2015 11:31am
I wonder how one can be so naive that he still has stock of fake degrees when the case is going on??
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May 27, 2015 11:47am
As the employees knew exactly what they were doing and ofcourse are adults, they should be arrested too. Justice should be impartial.
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May 27, 2015 11:56am
Its more likely a conspiracy by old media houses against BOL/Axact. If FIA needs to investigate NYT story, it should work on whole story and not half. NYT also said "Axact could NOT have done it without support from govt. officials".
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May 27, 2015 11:57am
@HZQ There are so many criminals who are out in the open, but nobody does anything, why this swift action on a company allegedly involved in issuing fake degrees, this does not make sense. Media rivalry maybe.
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May 27, 2015 12:02pm
People with these fake degrees be scrutinised and their degrees be made in-valid, and even their money be returned.
If they did study for the programme, then they be tested and issued alternative degrees. They shouldn't suffer.
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May 27, 2015 12:03pm
Guys, check this out: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/top-officials-hold-fake-degrees/
The fake diploma industry operates mainly from the USA. While US officials turn a blind eye to this issue while it happens in their own homeland and when even the fake degree holders are serving in the Pentagon and Homeland Security, they point fingers at others when they imitate them. I don't mean this type of business is legitimate and should be allowed to operate. What I mean is this guy, if he is a criminal, is a small fish in a huge pond. I think Axact is being made a scapegoat for the larger crimes its US accomplices are committing. I think authorities should find out if Axact was solely running this mill or was it operating as a small machine of the big factory. If so, are the bigger machines in the US and else where also being punished, or have they already found a replacement for it? I can't believe this guy alone is the mastermind behind this saga or that Axact alone is the whole factory.
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May 27, 2015 01:02pm
move as swiftly and honestly against parliamentarians who sought fake degrees in order to make to the house...! Fake degree holders (fakers) sat in the house to make laws for ppl of the land. They are more culprit than Shaikh, they fraud-ed this nation.
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May 27, 2015 01:18pm
Honest investigation desperately needed to curb any adventure like this in future.hoping, justice would prevail and there would be no sscapegoat.
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May 27, 2015 01:19pm
@Sikander the thousands of people who bought fake degrees from him will be arrested if they use their fake degree to acquire a position of power. If the authorities are honest, they will find out all the people who got fake degrees and make their names public. Those who are employing these fake degree holders will take cognisance.
There is no point in siding with this fake degree magnate, unless we really want to support such business.
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May 27, 2015 01:51pm
@ Ahmad - I hope you are joking. This guys is goon and the company was involved in fraud for quite sometime. The irony is that they never caught since our other departments are corrupt as well, they were busy taking their cut and let the show running. Now that it is exposed by foreign media all of them have disassociated themselves from this company and trying to be clean in public. We Pakistani should condemn such acts and wish our country is clean of these fraudsters. Please for God sake don't support such people just because they are Pakistani or Muslim, our religion and country is much beyond individuals and its image cannot be tarnished with these instances.
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May 27, 2015 01:55pm
@Donald Duncan It will be easy for authorities to check now if any persons had degrees from these fake university's they will be found out
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May 27, 2015 01:56pm
@Iqbal Khan The US companies did not do anything illegal, they were greedy and took a lot of risks, all legal.
This case is different, AXACT's sole business is issuing fake degrees, no one knows what else they make, check thier website.
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May 27, 2015 02:04pm
@cynic so it's "ok" to give back office services to robbers? How many "clients" are real? If all or most of them are fraud/fake then it's enough evidence of their wrong-doing..
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May 27, 2015 02:22pm
@cynic
How can you prove ownership of a university,that exists only on paper.The alumni of these universities are professional models and not educationists
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May 27, 2015 02:29pm
DG FIA has nothing to do that he went to raid by himself??, sir you are DG your job is to run organization rather than involving in raids. in first place its was your organization job to firgure out if such thing is being happening rather than other countries newspapers will tell you where to raid, well it gives a reason that you involved in raid rather than sort out organization matters.
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May 27, 2015 02:33pm
Why would they still keep fake degrees and ID cards with them in their offices? difficult to understand.
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May 27, 2015 02:38pm
which lawyer is representing this guy?
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May 27, 2015 02:39pm
allegedly shoaib has had backing of the good and the powerful and nothing will come out of this. I am sure he will escape!
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May 27, 2015 03:03pm
Independent Audit of all companies should be mandatory, to minimize such acts.
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May 27, 2015 03:13pm
I am sure our intelligent agencies were aware of AXACT's business for a long time but they acted swiftly due to international involvement. Since the news was broken in NY newspaper our agencies started showing their 'performance' otherwise no body would take any action. Alas, we are completely dependent on international agencies in every aspect.
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May 27, 2015 03:17pm
Media in Pakistan rule pakistan
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May 27, 2015 03:26pm
I think that Axact is being targeted for some obvious reason and one of which is the launching of Bol. Just recovering blank certificates in the name of certain universities does not substantiate the allegations raised in the NYT report. I dont know what sort of investigation is being carried out. There is possibility that Axact once entered into agreement with certain university for a certain period of time. One termination of such agreement or disappearance of such university, would it be reasonable to expect that the Axact would destroy all those documentation? obviously, no, the documentation may be kept reserved in stores and there is no harm in that. Secondly, why Shoaib Shaikh is being treated like such a way even before substantiation of the allegations which is not possible before corroboration of many facts which need to be unearthed during the investigation.
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May 27, 2015 03:26pm
Axact is a corporate entity and has earned fame in IT related services and I am confident that they have well established internal controls system. I would request that please dont ruin the local industry on just allegations. Even if there has happened some thing wrong, just establish weather its so significant that whole axact deserves such treatment. NYT just highlighted couple of instances and my question is that whether those are so pervasive that the entire group would be maligned? The facts so far discovered should have been presented to some court or commission formed for the purpose and then there should have taken an action against the management or those responsible if there would be proven any wrongdoing
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May 27, 2015 03:26pm
If selling online degrees without accreditation is a crime then all employees and customers are equally criminals for supporting this crime. Is our FIA is ready to encounter all those people.
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May 27, 2015 03:32pm
We have hundreds of bogus degree factories in India as well; nearly all of them have the support of corrupt politicians and corrupt officials.
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May 27, 2015 03:43pm
Well done Keep it up...Please also kindly look in to other universi ties eg Al K HAIR and p rivate medical colleges opened throughout over country ..and what about persons in various organizations in influential positions by virtue of cronyisim regardless of qualifications....
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May 27, 2015 03:52pm
@Muhammad Khan Would you legitimate a degree issued without educational activity but merely on basis of money
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May 27, 2015 03:58pm
Fake degree scandal has two main actors (a) CEO and other officials of Axact and (b) the beneficiaries who obtained degrees and the simple prudence demands that not only officials but beneficiaries must also be arrested forthwith because they are equal partners in the fake business. If the beneficiaries had not given any money then they could not be given fake degrees which proves that both are equally liable to punishment. I wonder how and why CEO has not given the names of the beneficiaries and I guess some of them must be on high positions now and they must be telling CEO not the name them otherwise they will be exposed and in return they will use their influence to save CEO and others. However,
it goes without saying that delay in naming the beneficiaries is creating serious doubts. Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait / zaidi4merdiplomat@hotmail.com
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May 27, 2015 04:06pm
@ An Ordinary Guy: that's absolutely.
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May 27, 2015 04:22pm
@Sharmeen Ahmad can u explain the tremendous amount of revenue that they are showing without having any known clients for which they work. Even the largest and oldest registered Software house doesnt have that much revenue.
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May 27, 2015 04:24pm
Federal Board of Revenue was not allowed to examine the annual returns of Axact and a stay order was giving by the court of law. This could have been avoided years ago. All foreign remittances and revenues of the companies and subsequent annual returns for taxation, authorities should be giving rights to examine all. And of course a check and balance need to be maintained on the authorities to minimize risk of misuse of powers.
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May 27, 2015 04:34pm
Axact should be brought to the court for justice for unfair businesses however their others activities of IT business should be allowed to continue as a good number of staff are employed in the company. So we should give some care to them.
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May 27, 2015 04:35pm
The government should seize Axact bank accounts and announce refund program for all those who were its 'clients'...
The beeline itself, of those hoping to get a refund, will expose the depth of the scam, and number of 'fake degree holders' in all sorts of positions, in both private and public sector.
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May 27, 2015 04:37pm
Why Govt and FIA is so much active and aggressive about axact case only? there are more severe fraud cases on many politicians, MNAs, MPAs.. who will take action against them? it sounds fishy...if Axact is guilty it must be punished but same level of interrogation aggressiveness should be with all corrupt politicians without any discrimination.
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May 27, 2015 04:40pm
@Haseen Good Job Declan Walsh!
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May 27, 2015 04:44pm
Why and how no name has been surfaced who were issued the fake degrees? Should it be believed that none whosoever has been issued any fake degree so whom to name and why? How many more days are required to name the beneficiaries? I wonder why none of the readers has raised the same question which I am asking for? Now when FIR is lodged and CEO along with other seniors have been arrested what deters Axacts officials to name those who have obtained fake degrees from Axacts? Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait
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May 27, 2015 04:50pm
The investigation is to find the money to have it transferred to certain other suitable accounts. Nothing else will happen. Students and employees will endlessly suffer.
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May 27, 2015 04:57pm
Looks like Axact and Bol succumbed to fake degrees!
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May 27, 2015 05:00pm
i am not supporting axact or its shoaib shaikh, but had he were a politician, he would have granted exemption from appearing before the court, plus we would see the case getting prolonged, .........
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May 27, 2015 05:08pm
@Iqbal Khan That raises another question. Axact says they are pioneer in providing ERP solutions to customers/companies. But where are those companies/customers? Lately I have read another scam about Axact whcih says, the list of customers listed on their website are either fake or not using any software solutions made by Axact.
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May 27, 2015 05:12pm
@cynic So by your definition Axact has a printing press in their vicinity which are printing degree certificates for Universities across the World?
oh wow!
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May 27, 2015 05:13pm
A big catch, no doubt. However, what is important to watch is the fate of the case when it goes to the court. Whether it suffers the same fate as that of virtually all high profile criminal cases that drag on for years and are eventually disposed off with a NOT GUILTY verdict, only time will tell. Let us hope the prosecution does its work meticulously and speedily this time to get a guilty verdict for a change.
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May 27, 2015 05:14pm
this is bad :(
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May 27, 2015 05:22pm
@Muhammad Khan "...Just recovering blank certificates in the name of certain universities does not substantiate the allegations raised in the NYT report...."
Yes, it is substantial evidence of Crime if these certain universities are Fake.
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May 27, 2015 05:25pm
@Haseen Great joint
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May 27, 2015 05:26pm
Lesson for others in the same business !!! What a disaster .
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May 27, 2015 05:39pm
Th ts, exactly what i mean to say sir,
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May 27, 2015 05:51pm
Shahid Hayat - the right man to do the job right! no escape for goons and fraud this time. Great stuff!
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May 27, 2015 05:57pm
Scam needs a reverse track follow. Apprehend senior government officials and lawmakers who are known to possess fake degrees and make them spill their beans. They must be protecting the whole fraudulent set-up for their own health and safety.
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May 27, 2015 06:21pm
@M. Ahmed I live in the UAE, here there are quite a few people who have been victims of this scam..some of my ex-colleagues in fact..how blind can u be? FBI cannot act on these sites as these are being run form offshore bases and servers, the FBI cannot commence inquiry just because the fake university claims to be US based.
Also, I hope u are aware that MI6 and FBi have offered help for cyber crime investigation in this case
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May 27, 2015 06:31pm
@Sikander Its better to identify the mistakes and correct them now, individual or state should not be ashamed of their short coming. Its better to die instead of fake living.
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May 27, 2015 06:42pm
If axact is not owning any fake university or directly selling degrees/diplomas to individuals, they shouldn't be blamed & accused.If they are just selling software tool and/or running back end data/service center, it shouldn't be their responsibility to check accreditation and legality of institutes.
You will not charge Microsoft if someone types a death threat letter to someone on Microsoft Word.
I don't work at axact and have no relation with it, in fact I heard its name week ago on media.
But I am a patriot engineer and know very well what does it mean employing 30K employees.
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May 27, 2015 06:51pm
There was a warning from University Grants Commission listing 21 fake universities and the students were warned to be careful , it means that fake degree mills are operating all over the world and a student who buys the fake degree is also knows this.
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May 27, 2015 06:58pm
@rahim May be an Advocate who obtained his LLB or LLM degree from Axact ?
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May 27, 2015 07:08pm
Investigate Amir Liaqat diplomas also.
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May 27, 2015 07:09pm
@Sharmeen Ahmad hope you are not one of the graduate students of this esteemed university
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May 27, 2015 07:11pm
what about the the Baig brothers holding ministerial positions and diplomatic offices
both have fake doctorate and Phd degrees, look at their rise from clerks to billionaires
who says USA is land of opportunities ,Pakistan is land of opportunities ,the bigger the fraud you are the higher you go
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May 27, 2015 07:14pm
It shows that if the authorities are pushed to act then they can get results in no time. Now what about all the corrupt politicians and bureaucrates, could we see them being caught too?
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May 27, 2015 07:17pm
the action of the pak govt needs to be appreciated as this whole thing headlined by nyt has hit world headlines...and such dubious institutes wreck the geniuine hard working pakistani who acquires qualifications from well known elite institutes but find himself ridiculed in the west inspite of being head and shoulders above the "gora".well done declan
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May 27, 2015 07:18pm
Shoaib Sheikh needed to have a course and a learning certificate from Malik Riaz before doing this type of business. At the end he looks so amature to do this.
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May 27, 2015 07:21pm
@Pronoy Pal There is no justification of refund. If you invest in an illegal activity the police or the security service is not obliged to refund .
It should be appropriate to refund the gains they received with the fake degrees.
why was the journalist punished ?
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May 27, 2015 07:26pm
Another thing clear again. No rule of law in Pakistan, the corrupt FIA doing justice.
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May 27, 2015 07:38pm
I feel like banging my head to the wall when I read comments defending this company and its CEO. Guys please don't deny the mirror. I am sorry but I feel anyone defending this company is either associated with it or have some hidden agenda.
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May 27, 2015 07:41pm
important; will this be taken to hilt and the 'real' actors behind this will be indicted or not ?... entire country knows the people behind this scam.
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May 27, 2015 07:48pm
@Sharmeen Ahmad Really, and the blank degree certificates from floor to ceiling were also for show!
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May 27, 2015 07:56pm
Looks like another high profile yet long term case like the Ayan money laundering one. Will be interesting to see how his attorneys defend him.
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May 27, 2015 08:02pm
Shoaib Shaikh, the CEO of Axact looks to be very confident even after his arrest by FIA in these pictures, no doubt he is a genius and it remains to be proved that he is an "evil genius", let's wait and see what course the Justice system will take. What will happen to all those who secured jobs on fake Degrees allegedly issued by these people?
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May 27, 2015 08:04pm
this is a fake case and drama to close BOL
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May 27, 2015 08:05pm
Fast track the cases against these fraudsters,con men and vagabonds!Convert their properties into good schools atleast!
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May 27, 2015 08:24pm
@rahim You say " allegedly" and then conclude with absolute surety. Don't know where logic went...down the stairs or out the window.
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May 27, 2015 08:24pm
I think what Axact did was totally immoral but not illegal because probably there is no law which criminalizes these actions. Instead of repeating the same Declan Walsh story in every news bulletin I would have loved to see some reporting which would've investigated whether any law exists for what Axact did and if not then a critical analysis should have been conducted into our current law system which gets exploited by such deplorable elements of society. Secondly, investigative journalism should have been conducted to determine why no anti corruption authority conducted any investigation into Axact for all those years and why a foreign journalist was needed to expose unethical Axact. Instead of focusing on these two points, our media has been bashing an immoral rival of theirs which brings the most important question: Are most media houses neutral and unbiased?
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May 27, 2015 08:25pm
When will we bring to justice the criminals who stole from people of Pakistan and are now running the country?
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May 27, 2015 08:27pm
@Sharmeen Ahmad I fully agree with you. Shameless Government of Pakistan has closed down a company which had provided jobs to so many Pakistanis. A leading IT company is being closed down because they dared to open a TV Channel with a them to end corruption in Pakistan.
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May 27, 2015 08:30pm
In the picture, exaggerated show of confidence proves they are guilty.
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May 27, 2015 08:40pm
@tim ........yes refunded as the degree holders were told these are genuine certificates from genuine learning foreign institutions.They were duped.
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May 27, 2015 09:09pm
I am sure they were doing wrong but they reason got caught is media competition
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May 27, 2015 09:15pm
Did any one from FIA has checked the degrees of all the employees including CEO of AXACT ?? You will find the root cause over there.
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May 27, 2015 09:26pm
I am in a state of shock as this CEO was pursiung his BBA when I was doing my MBA and he used to take guidence from Seniors including myself. I completed MBA and had no contact with him since then; he was indeed a suspicious character but had 'no-way' the potential for running such an organized scam for so many years. Although he finally got what he deserved, there are defintiely other big players and malicious minds behind him, which will never be brought to justice!
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May 27, 2015 09:40pm
How about bigger Political Dakus who have done money laundering and looted the country. When will the justice be served to them.
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May 27, 2015 09:41pm
Once again this is trial by media. When the country is half full of lying mna on their degree what do you expect from other. First lock up all the lying political leaders
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May 27, 2015 09:45pm
The nyt had to bring this to light? Pakistani institutions were asleep?
Shaikh was denied prearrest bail while every politician gets prearrest bail at the slightest hint of arrest?
The interior minister had to order action? Does he order all actions by the fia?
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May 27, 2015 10:25pm
Sharmeen! Please don't bury your head in sand. How can any sensible person defend the outrageous and disgraceful conduct of the accused?
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May 27, 2015 10:48pm
@Sharmeen Ahmad Totally agree with you and Mohammad Khan. Axact is being targeted by these corrupt group of politicians. They trust Declan Walsh more than a fellow Pakistani.
The new channel Bol was going to open all their secrete investments in Dubai and London (bought $373 million worth of property in Dubai in one week). Also that, Ayyan Ali was working for one of the prominent politicians.
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May 27, 2015 10:49pm
It is a strange place.Ayan Ali the carrier of $ is never handcuffed but Shoaib Sheikh is handcuffed who brought officially foreign exchange in the country.
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May 27, 2015 10:53pm
@Rashid How about keeping tonnes of blank degrees in the office?
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May 27, 2015 10:56pm
Good job guys! Now we should be making same moves for other currupted politicans as well!!!
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May 27, 2015 10:56pm
Online degrees are not new in US. However, this appears to be more then just that. Perhaps this in reality a case of Business rivalry, either from within PK, or a business rivalry with the biggest importer of IT in the World (i.e, India).
But this is just my guess.
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May 27, 2015 10:59pm
@Muhammad Khan
For your information, The CEO very clearly said on TV interview that his company doesn't issue any sort of degrees.
So he's caught red-handed, lying.
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May 27, 2015 11:03pm
@AHMAD ALI
So you mean to say, its okay to feed your families with fraud money ?
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May 27, 2015 11:28pm
FIA please treat CEO shohaib Shaikh without handcuffed there is no proof until guilty, his organisation providing 3000 family employment what will happen to BOL this is one channel propaganda against this. on line degrees issued on the basis of education is family and practice in UK & USA.
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May 27, 2015 11:35pm
Kudos to the NYT - the only sad part of this story is that it took a foreign journalist to uncover such obvious corruption.
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May 27, 2015 11:36pm
Selective justice is injustice....
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May 27, 2015 11:49pm
What about the fake degrees of MNA's, MPA's and Senators? They should be all checked and offenders jailed.
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May 28, 2015 12:03am
@Sharmeen Ahmad Naive and totally wrong you are. When you don't know the subject better say nothing.
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May 28, 2015 12:43am
Now it is the time to award Pakistan's highest civil award to Declan Walsh, New York Time Pakistan Bureau Chief for his brilliant service he did to the people of Pakistan.
Well done Walsh. Keep up your good work
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May 28, 2015 01:31am
@Harmony-1 what about others??
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May 28, 2015 01:38am
@Iqbal Khan The only difference here is they don't have any legit business. Name their one product or one client.
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