The CEO of Axact, Shoaib Ahmed Sheikh, has been arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Islamabad, Pakistan. The arrest is related to a case registered against him and an ex-additional district and sessions judge, Pervaiz-ul-Qadir Memon, on charges of corruption and misuse of authority.
The case was registered at the FIA Anti-Corruption Circle on Wednesday under charges 161, 165-A, and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), along with the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 section 5(2).
According to the FIR, the Anti Corruption Circle Islamabad conducted an inquiry in response to a reference sent by the additional registrar of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on February 17, 2018. During the inquiry, it was discovered that Memon had received illegal gratification of Rs5 million for the acquittal of Sheikh in a case titled ‘The state vs Shoaib Ahmed Sheikh’.
The FIR states that this constitutes offences of misuse of authority for illegal personal gains and criminal misconduct. Therefore, after approval from competent authority, a case has been registered against Memon on charges of taking illegal gratification for acquitting Sheikh through judgment and Sheikh for being the beneficiary of the transaction.
Axact is a Pakistani software company that was accused in 2015 of running a fake degree operation. Sheikh was later acquitted of the charges. The latest arrest comes as a blow to the company and its CEO, who had been working to rebuild its image in the wake of the scandal.