Uttar Pradesh, Ghaziabad – Harsh Vardhan Jain, who lives in Kavi Nagar, Ghaziabad, was recently arrested for allegedly running a secret “fake embassy” in the city. He has been found to have an incredible 12 diplomatic passports and is said to have traveled to about 40 countries in the past ten years. Jain was running what he said was a consulate and pretending to be a diplomat from the nonexistent micronation of “Westarctica.”
The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UP-STF) has started the process of getting a Blue Corner notice against Harsh Vardhan Jain. This worldwide alert is meant to help with a criminal investigation by getting information on his identity, whereabouts, or activities. The UP-STF has also asked for police custody detention so that they may fully look into his many activities abroad and complicated financial ties.
The Hindustan Times says that the STF’s proactive move comes after investigators found strong evidence that a Turkish person called Syed Ehsan Ali made suspected financial transactions worth ₹20 crore to Jain between 2002 and 2004. The investigation has also shown that Jain has more bank accounts than before. He now has 12 in India and eight in other countries, including five in Dubai, two in London, and one in Mauritius. This shows that he has a complicated financial network.
The Indian Express, citing ongoing investigations, went into further information about Jain’s lengthy excursions abroad, which included trips to the UK, UAE, Mauritius, Turkey, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Switzerland, Poland, Sri Lanka, and Belgium.
Making fake job offers and running fake businesses
The STF’s Noida unit said that investigations show Jain was very involved in making fake deals. He is said to have made false promises of job placements to people and corporations in different foreign nations, taking advantage of their desire to work abroad.
The media quote an anonymous source who said that Jain was often traveling to different Gulf and European nations to handle the operations of his shell firms. He called himself the secretary in some of these companies and the director in others. He has been to over 40 countries, and in the last 10 years, he has been to the UAE more than 30 times. The source further said that Jain had “diplomatic passports from 12 countries” that were found.
Jain, who is 47 years old, was first arrested for allegedly running a phony consulate out of the apartment he rented. He said he was a diplomat for a variety of unrecognized “micronations,” such as Westarctica, Seborga, Ladonia, and the made-up state of Paulovia. He used these fake credentials to trick people and organizations.
He is now in jail, and the Kavi Nagar police have filed a complaint against him. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has different sections that apply to the charges against him. These include 318(4) (cheating), 336(3) (forgery), 338 (forgery of valuable security), and 340(2) (forged documents or electronic data). The inquiry that is still going on is expected to reveal the entire scope of his complex network of deception.