Axact-BOL boss Shoaib Shaikh walks free

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 31 August 2016

Shoaib Ahmad Shaikh has been granted bail by the Islamabad High Court, allowing him to walk free after 15 months in jail. He was involved in a high-profile fake degrees case along with COO Waqas Atiq, who also received bail.

Summary

ISLAMABAD – Shoaib Ahmad Shaikh, CEO of Axact, and BOL Media Group, was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court Wednesday in a fake degrees case, and will now walk free after 15 months in jail.

Also granted bail was Waqas Atiq, the COO of the two companies, who too was in jail along with Shaikh. The case was heard by Additional Sessions Judge Pervez Al-Qadir Memon.

There are now no other cases against Shaikh, arrested in May 2015 following a story in The New York Times that claimed his software company Axact was involved in selling fake degrees to students.

Both Shaikh and Atiq, and 12 others were granted bail in a similar case by Sindh High Court on August 15. Both cases were filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Also this month, a sessions court in Karachi acquitted Shaikh, in a money laundering case. He was accused of illegally transferring Rs170m abroad. Two other accused in the case are on bail.

KEY POINTS:

• Shoaib Shaikh released after 15 months in jail
• Bail granted by Islamabad High Court
• No pending cases against Shaikh
• Waqas Atiq also granted bail
• Connected to the infamous fake degrees scandal