AXACT CEO'S EXACT

ISLAMABAD : The Islamabad High Court [IHC] on Wednesday overturned the acquittal of Axact  chief executive officer Shoaib Sheikh and other officials of the company in the  *fake degrees*  case by a session court.

The bench directed the sessions judge Islamabad [West] to hold a retrial of the case to decide the matter afresh after hearing all the arguments.

AXACT first came into the limelight in 2015 when a New York Times report titled ''Fake Diplomas, Real Cash : Pakistani company Axact Reaps Millions'' exposed the company's-

Fake degrees racket through which it had allegedly earned millions of dollars using non-existent  online universities and manipulations of customers.

According to the report, Axact had created several fake websites involving 'professors' and students who it said were in fact paid actor.

Umair Hamid, a vice president of Axact, was later sentenced to 21 months in prison in the US for his role in the international diploma mill scheme.

In addition to the prison term, Hamid, 31, from Karachi, was ordered to forfeit $5, 303, 020. He had pleaded guilty on April 6, 2016 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Canada's national broadcaster uncovered that hundreds of people working in diverse fields across Canada possess bogus degrees issued by Axact.