Fake envoy case: Jain posed as senior exec of major Indian agencies, corporates

Harsha Vardhan Jain created overseas firms with names similar to major Indian corporate houses and government corporations, police said

The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UP-STF) has found that Harsha Vardhan Jain allegedly floated several firms overseas with names deceptively similar to major Indian corporate houses and government corporations, and portrayed himself as a high-ranking official of these entities. He used this to gain access and credibility in elite circles and potentially for financial fraud, investigators said, adding that a Blue Corner notice has been submitted with Interpol to aid the investigation.

Harsha Vardhan Jain. (ANI)

Jain, 47, a resident of Kavi Nagar in Ghaziabad, was arrested on July 23 for allegedly operating a fake embassy from his rented residence while claiming to be an “ambassador” of unrecognised micronations such as Westarctica, Seborga, Ladonia, and Paulovia. He allegedly brokered deals on commission by falsely promising job placements for companies and individuals in foreign countries, police said.

“We have come across names of 22 companies that Jain opened in the UK, UAE, and Mauritius between 2008 and 2020. Their names closely resemble those of big corporate houses or government corporations active in India in the sectors of media and entertainment, power, infrastructure, fertilisers, agro trading, minerals, metals, and petrochemicals. We suspect these are shell firms, and we are probing possible overseas accounts linked to them,” said RK Mishra, additional superintendent of police, UP-STF. “A Blue Corner notice has now been submitted with the Interpol, and a five day police custody remand of Jain is also sought from a Ghaziabad court,” he added.

According to investigators, Jain first came in contact with controversial godman Chandraswami in London around 2000, who later introduced him to Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi and Syed Ehsan Ali, a former Hyderabad resident who later acquired Turkish nationality. When Jain was arrested, police recovered 12 fake passports from his house, along with ₹44.7 lakh cash and foreign currency with an exchange value of ₹30 lakh, four luxury cars, including an Audi and a Mercedes, 20 fake VIP registration number plates of diplomats, two PAN cards, and 34 stamps of different countries.

“We also recovered several visiting cards when we arrested Jain. He prepared these visiting cards to portray himself as a senior executive or official of major Indian corporate houses or government corporations. He used the original names of these corporate and government entities on the visiting cards, and not the names of the firms he created overseas with similar names,” said an officer associated with the investigation.

Explaining how Jain registered the overseas companies, the officer added, “We have found documents and other evidence that the similarly named companies, when registered overseas, had some additional names in the end while the initial names remained the same. Six of the companies opened in the UK have since shut down. All these companies will be part of the investigation.”

Jain is currently in judicial custody, and a case has been registered at Kavi Nagar police station under sections 318(4) (cheating), 336(3) (forgery), 338 (forgery of valuable security), and 340(2) (forged documents or electronic records) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on July 23.