A US court on Tuesday sentenced Axact Vice President Umair Hamid to 21 months in prison and levied a fine of $5,303,020 "for his role in an international diploma mill scheme operated through the Pakistani company?.

Axact executive pleads guilty in 'diploma mill' scam, faces 20 years in US prison

Umair Hamid pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison: US Dept of Justice

According to the Department of Justice?s website, Hamid pled guilty on April 6 this year to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. ?He entered the guilty plea before a US District judge who imposed today?s sentence?.

Hamid, an executive of Axact, was arrested on Dec 19, 2016, according to a statement by former Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara. He was produced in a federal court in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, the following day.

According to the department of justice, Hamid was involved in running a ?massive diploma mill? through Axact. The mill tricked people from across the world into enrolling in supposed high schools, colleges, and universities. ?Consumers paid upfront fees, believing that in return they would be enrolled in real educational courses and, eventually, receive legitimate degrees. Instead, consumers received no instruction and worthless diplomas,? the website says.

The website further says, ?Hamid, who served most recently as Axact?s Assistant Vice President of International Relations, helped Axact conduct the fraud in the United States, among other locations. On Axact?s behalf, he served as the primary contact during negotiations with a former competitor for Axact?s acquisition of websites for fake educational institutions. Under Axact?s control, those websites then continued to deceive consumers into paying upfront enrollment fees for non-existent educational programs.?

The Department of Justice said that Hamid continued to travel to US in 2016 ?to open a bank account used to collect money from defrauded consumers? and conduct fraudulent business as he was not arrested after Pakistani authorities shut down Axact and arrested various individuals associated with it.