The accused has been identified as Harsh Vardhan Jain – a resident of Kavi Nagar in the Ghaziabad region of Uttar Pradesh and claimed to be the ambassador of fictional embassies ‘Saborga’, ‘Poulvia’, and ‘Lodonia’.
In a rather interesting and bizarre case, UP Police has arrested a commoner Harshvardhan Jain for operating a fake embassy and recovered close to INR 44.7 lakh through cash, luxury cars, fake passports, and other items. The 47-year-old fraudster was arrested for operating a fake embassy from a rented house in Ghaziabad, known as ‘Westarctica’.
The UP Police (ADG) for Law & Order, Amitabh Yash stated the accused has been operating an illegal diplomatic mission of Westarctica from a rented house in Ghaziabad’s Kavi Nagar locality. Westarctica is located in the western portion of Antarctica. In addition to this, he also claimed to be the consul/ambassador of micronation countries like Seborga, Ladonia, and a fictitious country called Poulvia.
What is a Micronation?
Micronations are self-proclaimed entities that claim to be sovereign regions but are not recognised as such by most countries and international bodies, such as the United Nations. India does not recognize these micronations, thereby ruling out the existence of an envoy.
How did the Fake Embassies Operate?
The Uttar Pradesh Police explained in their media briefing that Jain was allegedly appointed an advisor by Seborga, a village and a self-proclaimed principality in the region of Liguria near the French border, in 2012 and an honorary consul by Westarctica in 2016.
He allegedly converted his office in an upscale Ghaziabad neighbourhood into a fake consulate by hoisting flags of different micronations he represented and even planted four luxury vehicles outside his residence that illegally sported diplomatic registration plates. During a raid at the reported ‘embassy’, the police allegedly found over INR 44 lakhs in cash and foreign currency with an exchange value of around INR 30 lakh.
They also found 4 luxury cars, including an Audi and a Mercedes, 20 fake VIP registration number plates of diplomats, 12 fake passports, two PAN cards, 34 stamps of different countries, 12 premium watches, a laptop, a mobile phone, and other documents.
During the investigation, Jain confessed to running an embassy to dupe businessmen and operate a hawala racket. He was apparently spearheading this mastermind circuit since 2016. Earlier, he used to operate from his father’s home at but around five months ago, he, along with his family shifted to a rented apartment. Jain was produced before an Uttar Pradesh court on July 23, which sent him to 14 days of judicial custody.
How was the Embassy Uncovered?
In the First Information Report (FIR) filed by UP police department, the police stated that they had been receiving tips from multiple sources about a fake embassy operating in the Kavi Nagar area.
“For the past few days, police were receiving tips from multiple sources that a fake embassy was operational in Kavi Nagar, and the suspect used to move in vehicles carrying VIP registration number plates of diplomats. He had also installed flags of different countries on his cars and was involved in duping people by posing as an ambassador to these micronations.”
Apparently, to testify the information received, when the central agencies were contacted to check the authenticity, it was confirmed that no embassy can operate illegally without approval from the ministry of external affairs of India, and it is against the sovereignty of India. This confirmation led to the uncovering of the scam being carried out by Harshvardhan Jain since a decade almost, and duping innocent civilians through malpractices.
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