Ghaziabad man posed as envoy, ran fake embassy of ‘Westarctica’ for 9 years

Ghaziabad resident Harshvardhan Jain has been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) for operating a fake embassy from a rented house in Kavi Nagar, posing as the consul or ambassador of fictional micronations such as Westarctica, Saborga, Poulvia, and Lodonia, in what investigators say was a sophisticated fraud and hawala racket.

Jain, a postgraduate in business with a London MBA and son of a local businessman, reportedly ran the embassy from 2016 across two addresses, complete with flags, luxury vehicles bearing fake diplomatic plates, and morphed photos of himself with prominent Indian dignitaries.

Authorities seized a stunning cache including ₹44–44.7 lakh in cash, foreign currencies, four cars (some displaying diplomatic plates), 12 forged passports, 18 fake diplomatic plates, 34 rubber stamps, fake MEA‑style seals, two forged PAN cards, press credentials, luxury watches, and related documents.

The STF alleges Jain used the setup to lure individuals and companies with false promises of overseas jobs, diplomatic privileges, visa and passport services, and trade connections.

He reportedly operated shell companies and structured hawala transactions to launder funds.

During interrogation, Jain admitted he modeled the embassy on personal ambitions and confessed the fraud was aimed at duping victims.

This arrest follows earlier probes: he was booked in 2011 for possessing illegal satellite phones and reportedly had links to notorious individuals including godman Chandraswami and arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.

Jain is currently in police custody, with an FIR registered under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to cheating, forgery, and illegal possession of documents.

Investigators continue probing the full extent of his network and foreign connections.