Ghaziabad, July 25 -- A man arrested for running a fake embassy in Ghaziabad had created a vast international web of shell companies and offshore bank accounts to dupe people with false promises of overseas jobs, Uttar Pradesh's Special Task Force (STF) revealed on Friday.
Harshvardhan Jain, 47, was taken into custody by the STF on Tuesday for impersonating an ambassador and operating what authorities have described as a "phantom diplomatic empire." He allegedly posed as an advisor or ambassador to several fictitious or unrecognised micronations, including "Westarctica", "Saborga", "Lodonia", and "Poulvia".
Investigations revealed that Jain held at least 11 bank accounts - six in Dubai, three in Mauritius, and one each in London and India. He also floated multiple shell companies abroad, including East India Company UK Ltd, State Trading Corporation UK, Island General Trading in Dubai, Indira Overseas Ltd in Mauritius, and Cameroon Ispat SARL in Cameroon.
Jain's operations were linked to a wider fraud ring led by Ehsan Ali Syed, his associate, who was arrested in London in 2022 and later extradited to Switzerland. Syed and his gang are believed to have swindled around €70 million between 2008 and 2011 through fake loan agreements and company setups. In July 2023, a Zurich court sentenced Syed to six and a half years in prison for fraud. Authorities are now probing whether Jain was directly involved in Syed's criminal enterprise.
A business graduate from Ghaziabad with an MBA from London, Jain is also accused of money laundering through hawala networks, operating via 16 shell companies registered in the UK. Officials said he used two different PAN cards to facilitate his financial dealings.
During a raid at his rented residence in Ghaziabad, the STF recovered Rs 44 lakh in cash, a cache of foreign currency, four luxury cars with fake diplomatic number plates, 18 additional diplomatic plates, forged 'diplomatic passports' of 12 self-styled micronations, stamps from 34 countries, counterfeit seals of India's Ministry of External Affairs, and a collection of high-end watches.
Officials say Jain maintained the facade of being a high-level diplomat for over seven years, building an elaborate fantasy world of fake embassies, faux credentials, and international deception. Further investigations are underway to determine the full extent of his international connections and the number of people duped in India and abroad.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.