karachi pakistan key people shoaib ahmed shaikh chairman viqas atiq vice chairman & coo co founder zeeshan ahmed senior executive vice president business unit zeeshan anwar assistant vice president website axact.com axact urdu is a pakistani software company that runs numerous websites selling fake academic degrees . as of may 2015 it was being investigated by pakistan s federal investigation agency . the company also owns the media company bol network 1 and sells fake degrees and theses to foreign students . 2 3 contents 1 history 2 fake diplomas scandal 2.1 new york times investigation 2.2 company response 2.3 official investigations 3 network of websites 3.1 educational websites 3.2 accreditation websites 4 references history axact was founded by shoaib ahmed shaikh who serves as its chairman . it is based in karachi and has over 2 000 employees . 1 according to shaikh the company was founded in 1997 with fewer than 10 employees working in a single room . in a 2013 interview with newsweek magazine he further described it as the world s leading it company and said that axact had eight broad business units and products more than 5 200 dedicated employees and associates globally and as many as 8.3 million customers worldwide . 4 the company website said in 2015 that the company had 10 diverse business units that offer more than 23 world class 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 . 5 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 18 543 for the year 2014 and that shaikh paid a personal income tax of rs . 26 0.26 for the same year . 5 fake diplomas scandal 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 said that although the company did sell software chiefly website design and smartphone applications its main business was to take the centuries old scam of selling fake academic degrees and turn it into an internet era scheme 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 . 1 company response axact has denied all the allegations . 6 7 the company accused the new york times of baseless substandard reporting as part of a plot by rival news organizations to stop the bol network which was scheduled to start operations soon . it also threatened several news organizations and bloggers reporting on the issue with lawsuits . 8 initially shaikh denied any association with the fake educational websites besides selling them software . later he said that while axact did provide office support and call center services to the websites it did not itself issue any degree or diploma whether fake or real . 9 official 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 . 10 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 11 and 28 employes from rawalpindi office . 12 the fia team found and seized several blank degrees as well as fake letterhead of the us state department . 13 the investigation was transferred from the fia s cyber crime department to its corporate department . citation needed 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 . 11 pakistan s tax authorities and the secp also initiated investigations into the company . 9 new details released in april 10 2016 in the report state that this scandal is bigger than initially imagined . 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 st. 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 earnt at least 89 million in its final year of operation . 14 axact ceo shoaib shaikh was acquitted of money laundering charges in august 2016 due to lack of evidence . criminal charges concerning alleged fake degrees remained pending . 15 network of websites the 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 . 8 the following is an incomplete list of those websites educational websites accredited degrees pro 16 accredited online degrees now 16 adamsville university 16 advance online degrees 16 affordable accredited degrees 16 affordable degrees pro 16 al arab university 16 al khaleej university 16 al khalifa american university 16 alford high school 16 alpine university 16 american gulf university 16 american mideast university 16 anchor point university 16 arab continental university 16 arab women university 16 ashbery university 16 ashley university 16 bakerville university 16 barkley university 16 bay view university 16 baycity university 16 baytown university 16 beacon falls high school 16 belford high school 1 belford university 1 belltown university 16 branton university 16 brooklyn park university 16 brooksville high school 16 brooksville university 16 buffville high school 16 cambell state university 16 camp lake university 16 chapel university 16 columbiana university 16 creek view university 16 crestford university 16 fast online university 16 federal high school 16 ford worth high school 16 fort jones university 16 foster city high school 16 galewood university 16 gibson university 16 glenford university 16 global institute of english language training and certification 16 grant town university 16 greenlake university 16 grendal university 16 hadly university 16 hansford university 16 harvey university 16 headway university 16 high school diploma experience 16 high school diploma fast 16 high school diploma pro 16 high school diploma professionals 16 high school diploma profs 16 hill online degrees 16 hill university 16 james adam university 16 james harding university 16 jersey high school 16 johnstown university 16 kennedy university 16 kings lake university 16 kingsbridge university 16 laurus university 16 lorenz high school 16 luther city high school 16 madison hills university 16 mary grand high school 16 mayfield university 16 mccain high school 16 mcford high school 16 mcford university 16 mcgraw online degrees 16 mcgraw university 16 mchill high school 16 mckinley university 16 midtown university 16 mount lincoln university 16 nelson bay university 16 nicholson university 16 nixon university 16 northern port university 16 northway university 16 olford walters university 16 online university profs 16 online university programs pro 16 pacific high school 16 panworld high school 16 panworld university 16 paramount california university 16 parkfield university 16 payne springs university 16 pine hill university 16 pittsford university 16 port jefferson university 16 queen city university 16 queens bay university 16 ray university 16 redding university 16 riverwood university 16 rochville university 16 roseville community college 16 st. angelo high school 16 stenford high school 16 thompson university 16 universal online degrees 16 victorville high school 16 walesbridge university 16 walford university 16 west coast high school 16 western advanced central university 16 western valley central university 16 westland university 16 wilburton university 16 wiley university 16 wilford university 16 willington university 16 winford high school 16 windham university 16 woodbridge university 16 woodfield high school 16 woodfield university 16 woodrow university 16 accreditation websites accreditation bureau of online education and training 16 arab accreditation council 16 association for accreditation of business schools and programs 16 european accreditation board for online education 16 european accreditation council for online learning 16 global accreditation board for distance learning 16 global doctorate council 16 gulf accreditation council 16 gulf bureau of higher education 16 gulf engineering council 16 international accreditation board for business studies 16 international accreditation board for engineering and technology education 16 education international accreditation board for psychology education 16 education international accreditation council for open education 16 international accreditation organization 16 international business accreditation and regulatory commission 16 international medical science commission ghotki . 16 references a b c d e declan walsh may 17 2015 . fake diplomas real cash pakistani company axact reaps millions . the new york times . former axactian reveals he lured customers into buying degrees from karachi office . geo . may 26 2015 . retrieved may 26 2015 . unabated disclosures axact s ex employee spills the beans . express tribune . may 26 2015 . retrieved may 26 2015 . shah benazir ; mohydin rimmel 13 october 2013 . axactly right . newsweek . retrieved 23 may 2015 . a b devjyot ghoshal . the pakistani man accused of making millions from fake degrees paid 26 cents in tax last year . quartz . retrieved 19 may 2015 . fake degrees axact ly . pakistan today . 19 may 2015 . retrieved 19 may 2015 . kugelman michael 18 may 2015 . the axact scandal and pakistan s growing tech sector . wall street journal . retrieved 19 may 2015 . a b imtiaz saba ; walsh declan 20 may 2015 . pakistani investigators raid offices of axact fake diploma company . new york times . retrieved 23 may 2015 . a b walsh declan 22 may 2015 . pakistan widens inquiry into fake diplomas . new york times . retrieved 23 may 2015 . chaudhry nisar orders inquiry into nyt report on axact . dawn . 19 may 2015 . retrieved 19 may 2015 . a b an insider discloses how axact seduces individuals with certified us degrees . today streams . 20 may 2015 . retrieved 20 may 2015 . fia raids axact s offices computers confiscated . daily pakistan global . retrieved 19 may 2015 . live updates dozens of axact employees detained for questioning after fia raids in karachi & islamabad 2 main servers to be shut down . ary news . 19 may 2015 . retrieved 19 may 2015 . http www.nytimes.com 2016 04 11 world asia pakistan axact degree scam.html r 1 http newsthrive.com axact ceo cleared in money laundering case 7751985 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr cs ct cu cv cw cx cy cz da db dc dd de df dg dh di dj dk dl dm dn do dp dq dr ds dt