The ST report ran yesterday, taken from the New York Times of the same day.
See how fast the Pakis work.
Here in SG Land, every mother and his dog (from toothpick thieves to toothless IDA management) defend, defend, defend. ac
Worse, trying to justify their stupidity in the first place.
And we are supposed to be first world, with SMART nation status and all?
From TODAY newspaper:
A cybercrime unit team from the FIA took action after Mr Nisar’s order, sealing off Axact’s offices in Islamabad and Karachi yesterday and seizing evidence such as computers and records.
FIA deputy director Tahir Tanveer was quoted by local media as saying that about 22 employees were taken into custody for investigation by the Islamabad team. Mr Nisar had directed the FIA to submit a report after a thorough investigation, said an Interior Ministry spokesman.
The New York Times published a story on Monday, “Fake Diplomas, Real Cash: Pakistani Company Axact Reaps Millions,” claiming that Axact had gleaned millions of dollars each year selling fake academic degrees to thousands of people across the world.
The detailed report said Axact, which calls itself Pakistan’s largest software exporter, does sell software applications, but based on company records, former insiders and a detailed analysis of its websites, its main revenue-making business has been from selling fake degrees on a global scale.
An FIA official, who requested anonymity, said that if proven true, the allegations brought up by the New York Times would be punishable by seven years in jail under Pakistan’s Electronic Transaction Ordinance.
In response to the New York Times’ allegations, Axact published a statement on its website calling the story a “defamatory article” and accusing domestic media of collaborating with the newspaper to hurt the firm’s interests.
“Axact condemns this story as baseless, substandard, maligning, defamatory, and based on false accusations and merely a figment of imagination published without taking the company’s point of view,” the statement said.
“Axact will be pursuing strict legal action against the publications and those involved,” it added.
On Monday, after blogger Malik Omaid from local website Pak Tea House posted a selection of comments, jokes and memes on Axact culled from Twitter, the blog’s founder, Mr Raza Rumi, reported that lawyers for Axact had served him with a nine-point legal notice threatening to sue for defamation and damages up to 500 million Pakistani rupees (S$6.5 million), if he did not “immediately take down the links” to tweets mocking the company.
In addition, the lawyers demanded that Pak Tea House’s editor issue “an unconditional apology and retraction for your illegal, defamatory, slanderous and malicious actions”.
Axact and its CEO, Mr Shoaib Ahmad Shaikh, did not respond to requests from Pakistani newspaper Dawn for comment. AGENCIES