ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday charged Shoaib Shaikh, the owner of a private television channel and chief executive of Exact, with a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to exonerate the then Additional District and Sessions Judge Pervezul Qadir Memon. Arrested for giving.
The FIA spokesman said that the businessman was arrested by the agency’s anti-corruption circle in the federal capital. The agency said that the accused had paid a bribe to be acquitted in a case registered against him under the fake degree scam in Islamabad’s cybercrime circle.
The spokesperson added that the agency has started an investigation after Shaikh’s arrest. The judge was also named in the case against Shaikh, FIA said.
FIA on 15 February 2023 summons the head of Exec in connection with the bribery case. Sheikh, however, did not appear before the investigation team. On 31 October 2016, Memon acquitted Shaikh, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Exact, a multi-billion-dollar company selling fake degrees around the world, and others in the fake degrees scandal, later dismissing the judge on 15 February 2018. was done by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) as he admitted before the Departmental Promotion Committee that he had accepted bribe to exonerate the accused.
An IHC division bench had in April 2018 rejected Memon’s acquittal on October 31, 2016.
Meanwhile, a case was registered against the CEO of Exact under the Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti-Bribery Act at the FIA on the request of the Registrar of the IHC.
Meanwhile, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) sources revealed that Sheikh has not paid his tax dues of over Rs 146 million. He added that the fine is not included in the amount.
In its notice, the FBR told the bank manager, “The taxpayer has not paid the said amount on time, therefore, under Section 140 of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001, you are required to immediately attach all Pak Rupee bank accounts. .) of the taxpayers, held in your bank against the CNICs # and business names mentioned above and remit or remit the amount to the undersigned through Pay Order/D.Draft immediately after service of this notice to you. or check for payment into the exchequer through bank transfer or under income tax head of account.
It should be noted that Exec’s Vice President Umair Hamid was sentenced to 21 months in prison in the US for his role in the international diploma mill scheme run by the company.
Acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jon H. Kim announced the decision.
In addition to the prison sentence, Hamid, 31, from Karachi, was ordered to forfeit $5,303,020. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on April 6, 2017. Hamid entered a guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams, who imposed the sentence.
