...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
offices on Tuesday and collected manuals, records and computers as evidence in the ongoing investigation of a global fake degrees scam.
TV reports quoted FIA Deputy Director Tahir Tanveer as saying that the Axact offices in twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi have been sealed and that around 22 employees of the IT company were taken into custody by the Islamabad investigating team.
Kamran Ataullah, a deputy director at the Federal Investigation Agency in Karachi, said the investigation would not be limited to the contents of the Times article.
"We've issued a letter to them, and we're looking for details of their database, employees, what websites and equipment they're using," he said while talking to NYT.
Meanwhile,
...back at the mall, Clarissa suddenly spied Mr. Bartlett at the checkout counter. He was buying Grecian Formula!...
a team of the FIA's corporate crime unit also visited Axact's Karachi offices and questioned their employees, DawnNews quoted FIA sources as saying.
No one has been placed in durance vile
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
or taken into custody at the Karachi office as yet, they added. Employees, particularly IT employees, were not allowed to leave the office premises during the investigations.
FIA officers swooped on the Karachi headquarters of the company, seizing equipment and records and expelling employees from the building, a member of the raiding party told on the condition of anonymity.
US State Department, while reacting to allegations levelled against Axact in a New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
article, said it had made no agreement on document attestation with the said company, DawnNews reported.
The state department said it keeps providing relevant information on its website to protect citizens from scams.
It further added that investigations on the company's practices are currently underway in Pakistain.
Earlier, action against Axact kicked off after Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
...
Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle FesterSharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain
publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture...
ordered an inquiry into a story published by The New York Times that claimed the company was issuing fake degrees as part of a massive, global scam.
An interior ministry front man said Nisar had directed the FIA to submit a report after a thorough investigation.
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 Pakistain.
FIA corporate crime circle has issued notice to summon Axact's chief Shoaib Ahmed Sheikh on Thursday, DawnNews reported.
The officials have also asked the company authorities to present their registration certificate, tax return details and the details of degrees issued so far, it added.