History of Axact

Axact, world’s Leading IT Company was founded during the dot-com boom in 1997 and started

from a one room office. In keeping with the spirit of the IT age, it went on to pioneer a

revolution in software products in Pakistan. Today, Axact has a global presence across 6

continents, 120 countries and 1,300 cities with more than 25,000 Employees and

Associates.Axact’s 10 diverse Business Units offer more than 23 world class products to some of

the most prestigious clients worldwide. Axact not only ranks as the “top choice employer” in

Pakistan but also has more than 2 billion users worldwide and a strong customer base of 40

million across the world. In 1997, Mr. Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh embarked on a journey to create a company

that would become a household named Axact. Mr. Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh is the Chairman and CEO of Axact.

The company looks to him to provide its vision and direction. Owing to his entrepreneurial flair and skills, Axact

has realigned itself to focus on a global outreach while at the same time, giving back to Pakistani society from the

company's profits. He founded Axact at a time when Pakistan was still waking up to the potential of the IT

industry. His foresight and vision were rewarded in the company’s meticulous rise through the country’s corporate

sector. Today, Axact is three times larger than any private sector company in Pakistan! Mr. Shoaib connected

Pakistan to the dot com world in a way that no one before could even dream of. Mr. Shoaib pioneered the creation

and launch of ground breaking software and technology. He created an environment in which excellence in every

IT-centric endeavor was expected and was delivered. Mr. Shoaib’s vision of the future of Axact is represented in

the company’s grand infrastructural project – GalAxact – which will contribute $50 billion to Pakistan’s economy.

He has also crafted a vision for an employed, educated and liberated Pakistan and the first step to accomplish this

vision, Plan 2019, has already been set in motion through the launch of Free Insaaf - a project to make justice

accessible to all. Through Mr. Shoaib’s plan, SED Axact will educate 10 million children by 2019. MrShoaib,

Project of Axact:

Founder of Axact and Founder of BOL Media Group, is all set to launch Pakistan’s Largest Media Group – BOL,

that will work to popularize his vision for an employed and independent Pakistan. Under Mr. Shoaib’s leadership,

Axact and BOL will rise to new heights of growth and accomplishment and will enable Pakistan to prosper and

flourish..BOL will have the finest and most modern infrastructure. BOL's capability with high tech

technology will propel them and make them better than the industry leaders. Their purpose-built

infrastructure equipped with state-of-the-art equipment will give them an edge over their

competitors.

Scandal of Axact:

The so called ‘biggest’ IT company of Pakistan named AXACT was alleged of being involved in

the biggest scam in the history of educational fraud on Monday. It was reported by the

prestigious newspaper of United States, New York Times, that the company was running

hundreds of websites representing ghost universities that offered distant learning and sold

degrees all over the world.The article was written after the detailed research and deep

investigation through all the universities’ websites run by AXACT group. Though the AXACT

group denied all the accusations in their response to the report, the credibility of the group has

been greatly damaged.

It is worth mentioning that the group had launched a television network in Pakistan with the

name of ‘Bol’ around 2 years ago and some really big names of the Pakistan media have joined

the network since. The AXACT group offered big salaries and perks to Bol employees with an

office furnished luxuriously to work in. AXACT group has hired senior journalists and giving

them their heavy salaries even before the launch of ‘Bol’ on television.

It was a question in the minds of many that what is the source of money coming in a TV channel

which has never been on-air and still able to pay millions of rupees as salaries to their employees

for around two years, but now it seems that the world knows from where all the money is coming

in.Many famous journalists and other media persons had so much to say on social media over the

news. Here are some tweets showing the serious and funny reactions of the people after the

report.

According To New York Times:

Pakistani investigators arrested the chief executive of Axact, a software company accused of

running a global diploma mill, early Wednesday after discovering a storage room filled with

blank fake degrees.The chief executive, Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh, and four other Axact executives

were initially charged with fraud, forgery and illegal electronic money transfers, law

enforcement officials said. The charges were later expanded to include money laundering and

violating Pakistan’s electronic crimes act.

The arrests were a sharp blow to a company that claimed to be Pakistan’s biggest software

exporter and that was on the cusp of starting a major television network. Axact has been under

investigation since May 19, afteran article in The New York Times described how the company

had made millions of dollars by running hundreds of fake online education websites.Since then,

federal investigators have sealed Axact offices in Karachi and Islamabad and requested help

from Interpol and the F.B.I. Mr. Shaikhsought to defend himself in a series of television

interviews and video appeals, and he asked the courts to halt the investigation.

Inside, they found a room filled with blank certificates bearing the letterheads of dozens of fake

universities and high schools operated by Axact under names like Bay View, Cambell State,

Oxdell and Nixon.Axact’s online activities appear to have effectively shut down. Attempts by a

reporter to contact sales agents at 221 of the company’s websites in recent days produced no

response. Several of the fake accreditation bodies set up by the company, in a bid to bestow

legitimacy on the universities, have gone offline.The scandal has cast a cloud over Bol, the Axact

television and newspaper group that had planned to begin broadcasting in June. On Saturday, the

network’s editor in chief and several leading journalists resigned, after Pakistan’s interior

minister spoke of “substantive” evidence against Axact.

According to Dailytimes:

Recent scandal related to a Pakistani software company Axact’s alleged involvement in selling

fake degrees has shocked the whole country especially IT industry, media related circles and

academia. The story published on 17th May, 2015; in The New York Times written by Declan

Walsh was not just another exposé about a criminal activity happening somewhere.The story

basically jolted the foundations of our developing IT industry which relies heavily on

outsourcing. It also raised questions about the standards of academic integrity and how as a

society we give importance to it

In the past few years our Software and other IT related industries have provided some hope for

our aspiring entrepreneurs to achieve their dreams and show the world that they are more than

suspected terrorists.Scandals like the diploma scandal, if not handled seriously will cast doubts

over the credibility and ethics culture in our IT industry which will eventually result in the loss

of international clientage confidence. Our aspiring young engineers and technologists are now

making some serious contributions in mobile applications, game development, e-commerce,

cloud computing and many other related areas. It will be unfair for them if our government

simply tries to sweep the issue under the carpet using delaying tactics and leave the question

mark on our industry’s credibility unaddressed.

The bigger issue in my view however is related to academic integrity and how we see it as a

society. Few years ago, the issue of fake MNA/MPA degrees has damaged the reputation of our

education sector all over the world. As a result, students and professionals who want to go

abroad, now go through some serious scrutiny process which is really embarrassing and time

consuming. It becomes more painful when we see that people from various other countries do

not need to go through such painstaking process. If, in any way, comes out that our government

officials are involved in any capacity in covering up the issue then whatever credibility is left of

our academic sector will suffer too.The need is to investigate and prosecute the issue with

highest professional standards and transparency so that we can prove to our-selves that we

believe in fair play especially when it comes to the most respected field of education.

At the same time, I will urge Axact  institution BOL that if they feel that they have been falsely

targeted as a result of some conspiracy then they should file alawsuit against The New York

Times instead of using social media to clear their image.

List of all possible university websites affiliated with Axact:

Following are the list of most of the universities websites which are affiliated with Axact

Alford High School

High School Diploma Profs

Beacon Falls High School

Brooksville High School

Buffville High School

Federal High School

Ford Worth High School

High School Diploma Experience

Foster City High School

High School Diploma Pro

High School Diploma Fast

Jersey High School

Lorenz High School

Luther City High School

Mary Grand High School

McCain High School

McFord High School

McHill High School

Pacific High School

High School Diploma Professionals

Panworld High School

Angelo High School

Stenford High School

Victorville High School

West Coast High School

WinFord High School

Woodfield High School

Global Institute of English Language Training and Certification

Adamsville University

Al Arab University

Al Khaleej University

Al Khalifa American University

Alpine University

American Gulf University

American Mideast University

Anchor Point University

Arab Continental University

Arab Women University

Ashbery University

Accredited Degrees Pro

Ashley University

Bakerville University

Barkley University

Baycity University

Bay View University

Baytown University

Belltown University

Branton University

Brooklyn Park University

Brooksville University

Cambell State University

Camp Lake University

Chapel University

Columbiana University

Creek View University

Crestford University

Fast Online University

Fort Jones University

Galewood University

Gibson University

Glenford University

Grant Town University

GreenLake University

Grendal University

Hadly University

Hansford University

Harvey University

Headway University

Online University Programs Pro

Hill University

Hill Online Degrees

James Adam University

James Harding University

Johnstown University

Kennedy University

Kingsbridge University

Kings Lake University

Laurus University

Madison Hills University

Mayfield University

McFord University

McGraw University

Affordable Accredited Degrees

McGraw Online Degrees

McKinley University

Midtown University

Mount Lincoln University

Nelson Bay University

Nicholson University

Nixon University

Northern Port University

Northway University

Olford Walters University

Panworld University

Accredited Online Degrees Now

Advance Online Degrees

Paramount California University

Parkfield University

Payne Springs University

Pine Hill University

Pittsford University

Port Jefferson University

Queen City University

Queens Bay University

Ray University

Affordable Degrees Pro

Universal Online Degrees

Redding University

Riverwood University

Rochville University

Roseville Community College

Thompson University

WalesBridge University

Walford University

Western Advanced Central University

Online University Profs

Western Valley Central University

Westland University

Wilburton University

Wiley University

Wilford University

Willington University

Windham University

Woodbridge University

Woodfield University

Woodrow University

Axact response against the allegations:

Axact CEO Shoaib Sheikh on Wednesday denied allegations leveled against his company

byNew York Times, saying that Axact only provides back office services to universities and

educational institutions across the world.He insisted universities his company provides services

to are legitimate and outsource business operations to his company.Responding to a question,

Shaikh said that his company’s services are akin to manufacturers of cricket bat, saying that the

manufacturer will not be responsible if the bat is used to murder someone.Axact CEO said that

his company paid a little amount of tax because of ‘tax exemption’ by Pakistani authorities on IT

related exports.

Talking about the forged degrees and documents recovered during raids in their offices, Shaikh

said that several American banks have outsourced their operations in India and if their partner

back office in India prints a cheque book then “will that also be considered a forged cheque

book?”. He said 99.99% shares of Axact are owned by Axact LLC registered in Middle East and

that it is also owned by him, his wife and a partner.Responding to a question, Shaikh said that his

company’s services are akin to manufacturers of cricket bat, saying that the manufacturer will

not be responsible if the bat is used to murder someone.Shaikh insisted he is being targeted for

his ‘patriotic’ intentions to launch a TV network. He said he has already sent four notices to New

York Times, adding that the legal action against Times will be pursued in any case.

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. Axact will be pursuing strict legal action against the publications and those involved.

It is clarified that NYT in Pakistan is partnered with Express Media Group to publish

International NYT in Pakistan and receive earnings from the group. Express Group was under a

restraining order and contempt of court proceedings by Sind High Court for publishing a

defamatory news item and further from publishing anything detrimental to Axact’s

reputation.Hence Express Media Group to counter the success of BOL and to circumvent the

court order has got this story published via its partner NYT in collaboration with some reporter

called Declan Walsh.

The story is authored by some reporter Declan Walsh of NYT who was expelled from Pakistan

as Persona non-grata by Pakistan Interior Ministry allegedly due to his involvement in damaging

Pakistan’s national interests. Even the media group he is affiliated with, the Express Tribune,

published a story against him .. Several other organizations have also written about him as well

as failure of NYT to deliver credible news .. This reporter has worked and devised a one-sided

story without taking any input from the company. A last-minute, haphazard elusive email was

sent to the company demanding an immediate response by the next day to which the attorney for

Axact responded.

Moreover, this reporter has not mentioned the conflict of interest which the NYT has due to its

association with Express Media as its revenue source in Pakistan. This necessary disclosure

regarding the criminal cases on NYT Partner in Pakistan was deliberately omitted and is an

injustice to the reader not expected of a publication like NYT.

One aspect that stands very clear from all this is that a personal grudge has been displayed by the

writer. Parallels laded with negativity have been drawn with the portrayal of positive Pakistan

and also including references to the Silicon Valley as if offering world-class facilities to

employees is something that we should be ashamed about when it is our pride. This reminds us

of the story made by Forbes against NYT reporters of publishing false stories.

Principal components of Axact:

Axact must established independent oversight of public company’s internal audits

• Established the PCAOB, which ended more than 100 years of self-regulation by the public

company audit profession

• Provided the PCAOB with inspection, enforcement and standard-setting authority

Strengthened internal audit committees and corporate governance

• Required internal audit committees, independent of management, for all listed companies

• Required the independent internal audit committee, rather than management, to be directly

responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the external auditor

Enhanced transparency, executive accountability and investor protection

• Required internal audit firms to disclose certain information about their operations for the first

time, including names of clients, fees and quality control procedures

• Required the CEO and CFO to certify financial reports

• Prohibited corporate officers and directors from fraudulently misleading auditors

• Instituted clawback provisions for CEO and CFO pay after financial restatements

• Established protection for whistleblowers employed by public companies who report

accounting, auditing and internal control irregularities

• Required management to assess the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting

(404(a)) and auditors to attest to management’s representations (404(b))

• Established the “Fair Funds” program at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

to augment the funds available to compensate victims of securities fraud

Axact must enhanced internal auditor independence

• Prohibited audit firms from providing certain non-audit services to audited companies

• Required internal audit committee pre-approval of all audit and non-audit services • Required

lead audit partner rotation every five years rather than every seven years

Policy for Axact and other companies doing same nature of business

TO BE INTRODUCED TO PRIME MINISTER NAWAZ SHAREEF

A

POLICY

To make provisions for prevention of illegal I.T companies

The so called ‘biggest’ IT company of Pakistan named AXACT was alleged of being involved in

the biggest scam in the history of educational fraud on Monday. It was reported by the

prestigious newspaper of United States, New York Times, that the company was running

hundreds of websites representing ghost universities that offered distant learning and sold

degrees all over the world.The article was written after the detailed research and deep

investigation through all the universities’ websites run by AXACT group. Though the AXACT

group denied all the accusations in their response to the report, the credibility of the group has

been greatly damaged.

It is worth mentioning that the group had launched a television network in Pakistan with the

name of ‘Bol’ around 2 years ago and some really big names of the Pakistan media have joined

the network since. The AXACT group offered big salaries and perks to Bol employees with an

office furnished luxuriously to work in. AXACT group has hired senior journalists and giving

them their heavy salaries even before the launch of ‘Bol’ on television.

While taking Axact case into account government must take action against these kind of

companies and must put Axact in an explamplery situation where other companies must afraid of

doing such thing that’s why Government of Pakistan has pass a policy

It is hereby enacted as follows

I. Short title and commencement

a. This act may b called Termination of unlawfull I.T solutions act, 2015

b. It is extended to whole Pakistan.

c. This act is also applicable on companies which are outside Pakistan but they are

doing thieir busniess within the boundries of Pakistan

d. All the companies which are in Pakistan doing busniess related to information and

technology does fall in this category.

e. All the chief executive and the board member including manager will be held

liable if found guillty.

f. Every I.T company must be registered under companies act 1984.

g.