ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Saturday that a decision had been taken to seek legal assistance from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Interpol for investigations into the alleged sale of fake degrees by the software company, Axact.

Addressing a press conference at Punjab House, he said the inquiry against Axact would be completed within 10 days. A request for legal assistance might be made to the United Kingdom as well, but a final decision to this effect had yet to be taken, he added.

Read: NYT accuses software firm of running fake degree empire

The minister advised the media not to jump to conclusions before the inquiry was completed, but many of his remarks indicated clearly that Axact was in hot waters.

At one stage, he said he had been criticised by some for demonstrating unnecessary haste in ordering a probe into the scam but added that much of the record seized by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) could have been erased had instant action not been taken.

He said the investigation was progressing in a positive manner and the material that had come forth was “quite substantive”. He said that Axact was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan in 2006 as an IT company, but did not do the business it was registered for.

Also read: FIA raids Axact offices, takes records and employees into custody

He confirmed that some of Axact’s accounts had been frozen and that transactions of millions of dollars had been traced, but it was yet to be determined where the flow of money was directed. He said a money-laundering case might be registered against the company if it failed to justify the transactions.

Chaudhry Nisar said many, including former employees of the firm, were voluntarily coming forward to share information. He said innocent employees would not be touched, but those who knowingly facilitated any illegal business would be acted against.

He rejected criticism against the FIA for remaining unaware of the scam for years, saying that the company had given degrees to many people in the US, UK and Middle East, pointing out that the stamps of US Secretary of State John Kerry had also allegedly been used. “When the FBI could do nothing, how can somebody accuse FIA of inefficiency?”

He disclosed that a criminal case had come up for hearing in the context of a degree issued by Axact in 2007. The person who had been ‘awarded’ the degree was sentenced, but the court did not deem it appropriate to act against the institution that had issued the degree.

Explore more: Domino effect: Senior journalists leave BOL amid controversy

Holding out an assurance that the inquiry would be open and transparent and no pressure to this effect would be acceptable, he said the initial probe would determine if an FIR was to be lodged.

Reaction to PTI

Commenting on a statement made by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan in which he had referred to something Chaudhry Nisar said on the floor of National Assembly last year, the minister said he stood by his statement that there were 60,000 to 70,000 unverified votes in various constituencies.

He said these were related to unreadable thumbprints and were not necessarily fake votes. He advised the PTI to let the issue be decided by courts. He said that according to the record, the PTI had filed 58 election petitions after 2013 polls for 30 National Assembly and 28 provincial assembly constituencies. He said that three of them had been accepted, while the rest were rejected by tribunals.

He said it was not appropriate to term the entire electoral process tainted and flawed. He said it was not Nadra’s job to verify election results and matching 100 per cent thumb impressions was not technically possible.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2015

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