RAWALPINDI: The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) anti-corruption circle launched a crackdown against suspects involved in issuing fake and unregistered degrees of technical education and arrested three owners of illegal institutions in the twin cities.

An FIA spokesman, in a press release, said the FIA team launched a crackdown on the suspects involved in issuance of fake and unregistered technical degrees.

The raids were conducted against fake and unregistered institutions identified as Modern Institute of Informatics, Johar Institute of Information Technology Islamabad, and the International College of Education, the spokesman said. The owners of the said institutes were arrested in the raids. Among them were Zeeshan Zahid, Umar Farooq, and Ahsanuddin.

The accused, arrested in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, used to place admission advertisements in different newspapers and social media in the name of fake institutions and issued fake technical certificates, degrees and cards to citizens for huge sums of money. Actions were taken against the accused on the complaint of National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC), said the spokesman.

During raids, the FIA recovered a huge quantity of fake technical degrees, certificates, cards, diplomas, and certificate-making equipment. Fake seals, diploma stickers, blank certificates, letterheads and an embossed machine were also recovered from the possession of the accused.

Raids are being conducted to arrest other accused, said the spokesman.

On this occasion, the director Islamabad Zone appreciated the efforts of the team for their excellent performance. Indiscriminate actions against fake and illegal institutions will continue, the spokesman added.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2024