LUCKNOW, July 30 -- After a week-long investigation, the UP Special Task Force (STF) has taken into custody a 47-year-old Ghaziabad man, Harshvardhan Jain, who allegedly posed as a diplomat of a fictitious country and duped people with false promises of foreign jobs. Investigators suspect he amassed over Rs 100 crore in overseas assets and floated 25 companies in various countries. Jain was arrested on July 22 for allegedly running an illegal diplomatic mission of a self-declared micronation called Westarctica from a rented house in Ghaziabad's Kavi Nagar. A local court granted five-day police custody remand on Monday, following which the Noida unit of the STF took custody of Jain on Tuesday for interrogation. He will remain in STF custody till the morning of August 2, officials said. A senior STF officer said Jain is accused of operating a widespread racket under the guise of diplomatic credentials and running a hawala network through shell firms. During questioning, officials will examine his international travel history, financial transactions from foreign bank accounts, and the business entities he reportedly established abroad, through which he allegedly amassed assets worth over Rs 100 crore. "Jain is alleged to have travelled to 34 countries 190 times using fake diplomatic passports. These documents were also found in the names of his family members and relatives," the official said, adding that the accused allegedly evaded detection for nearly eight years. According to the STF, Jain had invested in properties in South Africa, France and London. "We have also identified 25 companies registered by him in different countries. In Ghaziabad's Punjab National Bank, Rs 8 crore was found in one of his accounts, while another account in Delhi had Rs 3 crore," the officer said. In total, Jain and his wife, Dimple Jain, a silver trader, reportedly hold 21 bank accounts, including nine in the Delhi-NCR region. The STF said it is examining these accounts for large financial transactions linked to the suspected job fraud and hawala racket. Police also suspect Jain brokered overseas work deals for individuals and firms by posing as the ambassador of unrecognised micronations such as Seborga, Poulvia and Lodonia, in addition to Westarctica....