Goa, July 27 -- Harshvardhan Jain has been arrested for running a fake embassy from a rented two-storey house in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, for nearly eight years. Posing as a diplomat representing unrecognized micronations such as Westarctica, Jain allegedly used the bogus setup to orchestrate a massive international scam involving fake job offers, money laundering, and forged diplomatic credentials.

According to the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF), Jain's fraudulent operations may have amassed nearly Rs.300 crore. His network spanned several countries and included 162 foreign trips over the past decade to manage at least 25 shell companies in the UAE, UK, Mauritius, and Cameroon. Authorities seized luxury vehicles with fake diplo...