Pakistani authorities have detained the owner of a software company accused of running a global network in selling fake degrees.
Detectives held Shoaib Shaikh on Wednesday and seized hundreds of thousands of fake degrees during a raid on the Axact company offices in Karachi, Shahid Hayat, provincial director for Pakistan’s federal investigation agency, said.
Police are investigating the company and Shaikh on charges of marketing online degrees from non-existent schools and universities. Reuters reported that the interior ministry had written to the FBI seeking assistance.
The developments follow a report in the New York Times alleging Axact makes millions of dollars from selling bogus degrees. It was supposedly going to launch a TV channel in Pakistan when a New York Times report exposed the alleged fraud this month.
Shaikh and several others were detained on charges of fraud, forgery and cybercrime, Hayat said. It was not immediately known how many people were arrested. “We have seized hundreds of thousands of fake degrees,” Hayat said. “We have enough evidence to proceed – we have forensic evidence.”
The police also sealed the office building, where Hayat said machinery and gadgets were found that were used in the allegedly fraudulent business. A magistrate who supervised the operation said those detained would appear in court on Wednesday.