Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh also known as SAS (born 17 April 1971) is a Pakistani businessman and

convicted felon A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

. He is the founder of 24-hour news cycle network named ''

BOL Network BOL Network ( ur, ) is a media conglomerate based in Karachi owned by Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh who also served as the CEO and chairman of the media network. According to Declan Walsh Bol Network was under the auspices of the fake diploma mill Axa ...

''. He also founded

diploma mill A diploma mill (also known as a degree mill) is a company or organization that claims to be a higher education institution but provides illegitimate academic degrees and diplomas for a fee. The degrees can be fabricated (made-up), falsified (fa ...

company

Axact Axact ( ur, ) is a Pakistan software company that runs numerous websites selling fraudulent academic degrees. The company also owns the media company BOL Network. History Axact was founded by Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh, who serves as its chairman ...

Early life

Shoaib was born on 17 April 1971 in Karachi, Sindh to middle-class family. His father was a Sindh High Court lawyer who also served some years as the principal of the Islamia College. Shaikh has four siblings.

Career

Founding BOL Network (2013)

In June 2013, Shoaib Ahmed Sheikh started a Pakistani 24-hour news cycle network named BOL Network. According to him, BOL Network was meant to create an independent media house to portray a soft image of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The company also announced a television set brand by the name of BG.

Arrest

Following the publication of the New York Times article, Pakistan's Interior Minister directed the country's

Federal Investigation Agency The Federal Investigation Agency ( ur, ; reporting name: FIA) is a border control, criminal investigation, counter-intelligence and security agency under the control of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan, tasked with investigative jurisdictio ...

to begin inquiry into whether the company was involved in any legal business. Following the interior minister's order, cyber crime team of FIA raided

’s office in Karachi and Islamabad and seized computers, recorded statements of employees as well taking into custody 25 employees of the company and 28 employees from Rawalpindi office. The FIA team found and seized several blank degrees as well as fake letterhead of the US State Department. The investigation was transferred from the FIA's cyber crime department to its corporate department. Regarding the New York Times article it is known that Shoaib Shaikh had made over $89 million Dollars and had laundered money through shell companies in the US and more offshore companies which were used to fund Axact and their news company BOL. The issue was also taken up in Senate of Pakistan where Chairman of the Senate Raza Rabbani constituted a committee to probe into the issue. Pakistan's tax authorities and the SECP also initiated investigations into the company.https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/world/Asia/fake-diplomas-real-cash-Pakistani-company-axact-reaps-millions-Colombian-barkley.html?_r=0 On 26 May 2015,

arrested Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh for investigation. The case was filed against him on 27 May 2015, in

Karachi, Pakistan Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. Subsequently, Axact was sealed on 28 May 2015, and the Information ministry requested the

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) ( ur, ) is an independent and constitutionally established federal institution responsible for regulating and issuing channel licenses for establishment of the mass media culture, print a ...

(PEMRA) to close down BOL. He was given bail prior to his conviction, the case filed against him on the charges of alleged fraud, extortion, and money laundering. On 26 May 2015,

arrested Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh for investigation. The case was filed against him on 27 May 2015, in

. On 26 September 2018, Shaikh was sentenced to 7 years in prison for the diploma mill conspiracies, along with several other accomplices. His wife was acquitted of all charges. In July 2018, the court announced a 20-year jail sentence to him along with 22 others regarding the fake degree case, and was subsequently sentenced in September 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaikh, Shoaib Ahmed Living people Axact BOL Network people Businesspeople from Karachi Pakistani mass media businesspeople Pakistani chief executives Pakistani fraudsters Pakistani prisoners and detainees Pakistani money launderers People with acquired Saint Kitts and Nevis citizenship People convicted of fraud Saint Kitts and Nevis people of Pakistani descent 1971 births