Harshvardhan Jain was on Tuesday arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) for running a fake ‘Westarctica’ embassy from a rented house in Ghaziabad’s Kavi Nagar. He claiming to be a diplomat of non-existent "West Arctica".
According to the STF's Noida unit, preliminary investigations suggest that Jain was engaged in brokering deals by falsely promising job placements for companies and individuals in foreign countries.
Harshvardhan accused of running hawala racket
He is also suspected to be involved in running a hawala racket through shell companies, the agency said, adding the accused used morphed photos showing him with the prime minister, the president, and other dignitaries to mislead people.
Additional Director General of Police Amitabh Yash said the accused was running the bogus embassy from a rented house and projected himself as a consul or ambassador of non-existent countries such as West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, and Lodonia, and moved around in vehicles bearing fake diplomatic number plates.
Interrogation revealed that the accused had associations with controversial godman Chandraswami and international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi in the past. In 2011, Jain was booked in a case related to the recovery of an illegal satellite phone.
Following his arrest on Tuesday, four vehicles bearing fake diplomatic number plates, 12 forged diplomatic passports of the so-called micronations, fake documents stamped with the seal of the Ministry of External Affairs, two forged PAN cards, 34 rubber stamps of various countries and companies and two fake press cards have been seized.
Moreover, the STF also recovered Rs 44.7 lakh in cash, foreign currency, documents related to multiple companies, and 18 fake diplomatic number plates.
But who is Harshvardhan Jain? And how did he turn a bungalow in Ghaziabad into a fake embassy?
Who is Harshvardhan Jain?
After interrogation, police said he used to introduced himself as the “Ambassador of Westarctica” and also claimed to be the “consul” of Seborga, Lodonia, and Poulvia, which are micronations with no official recognition.
Police said he also posed as a ‘Baron’ representing Westarctica, which claims land in Antarctica and was founded by a US Navy officer.
What is Westarctica?
Westarctica is not a real country and it was created in 2001 by an American named Travis McHenry, who claims it is an uninhabited part of Antarctica.
Westarctica has a website, a self-proclaimed “Grand Duke,” and a symbolic system of nobility but it is not recognised by the United Nations, the Indian government, or any official authority.
How Harshvardhan turned bungalow into fake embassy in Ghaziabad
Harshvardhan Jain turned his rented house in Ghaziabad into an embassy and managed to convince quite a few people. The rented house in Ghaziabad displayed foreign flags, and his vehicles had number plates marked “DC”, short for Diplomatic Corps.
Inside the house, there were documents with official-looking letterheads, forged IDs, fake seals, and edited photos with figures like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former President APJ Abdul Kalam.
Police said he used these props to appear credible, draw people into business arrangements, and offer fake diplomatic “posts” to those willing to pay.
Apart from this, he is also accused of taking large sums from individuals and firms in return for overseas placements and special permissions for international ventures.
