Fake envoy sold ‘diplomatic titles’ for ₹50L- ₹2cr: Police

Two of Harsha Vardhan Jain’s relatives are under investigation for allegedly moving evidence after his arrest, officials said on Friday

Investigators have recovered over a dozen bags of documents, including fake diplomatic kits, during fresh raids in Delhi linked to Harsha Vardhan Jain — the man accused of operating a fake embassy from his home in Ghaziabad, officials said on Friday. The kits, which included forged diplomatic plates, flags, visiting cards and other paraphernalia, were used to dupe individuals into fraudulently posing as “envoys” of micronations in exchange for large sums of money, they added.

Harsha Vardhan Jain. (ANI Video Grab)

Two of Jain’s relatives are under investigation for allegedly moving evidence after his arrest, officials said on Friday.

The STF officials said that Jain’s relatives removed the evidence on July 24, and upon information from Jain during his police custody remand, a raid was conducted at his relative’s house in Rohini on Wednesday (July 30). Upon questioning the relatives, it was revealed that the documents were kept in a rented shop in Jahangirpuri, and recovered after a raid conducted on Thursday (July 31).

In a fresh round of raids, police recovered 10 to 12 bags stuffed with forged documents, counterfeit diplomatic kits, visiting cards, fake registration plates, flags of imaginary nations, and other paraphernalia. The latest revelations, investigators said, point to an elaborate racket in which Jain allegedly charged individuals anywhere between ₹50 lakh and ₹2 crore to appoint them as “envoys” of the micronations of Westarctica, Seborga and Lodonia, and the fictitious country of Paulovia – the first three insignificant and controversial specs on the world map, and the fourth a “virtual micronation”.

Jain was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UP-STF) on July 22, after which his relatives attempted to remove key evidence from his Ghaziabad house. CCTV footage showed two of his relatives entering Jain’s Kavi Nagar residence and carrying away bags of documents.

Investigators traced them to Delhi, where they were picked up for questioning.

“They confessed to dumping the materials in a shop in Jahangirpuri. The site was raided, and we recovered bags filled with forged paperwork. Some ready-to-deliver kits were also recovered. Further, we also came to know that ₹44 lakh in cash, recovered from Jain’s during his arrest on July 22, was Hawala money which was delivered by some local agent who was sent on the instance of one Shafique from Dubai. Shafique is originally from Hyderabad, and now in Dubai. The motive of money-laundering is being investigated ,” said RK Mishra, additional superintendent of police, UP-STF.

The seized material revealed that Jain had developed entire “diplomatic kits” that included forged passports, registration plates designed to mimic diplomatic credentials, and even printed materials assigning titles and territorial jurisdictions to his clients.

“He posed as a high-ranking representative of micronations and duped people into paying for fake designations. The scale of forgery and impersonation is staggering,” said an official familiar with the probe.

Investigators cited above said that they believe that Jain appointed at least 20 to 25 such individuals as envoys of these unrecognised “nations.” The fake titles appeared to be used for everything from flaunting social status to facilitating suspect financial activity, including hawala transfers and setting up offshore companies.

Jain’s relatives, though not formally arrested yet, remain under scrutiny for attempting to destroy evidence. “Their roles are being examined. If it’s established that they knowingly removed evidence, further legal action will follow,” said Bhaskar Verma, assistant commissioner of police, Kavi Nagar circle.

During earlier raids, police seized ₹44.7 lakh in cash, foreign currency valued at ₹30 lakh, four luxury vehicles — including a Mercedes and an Audi — 20 fake diplomatic plates, 12 fake passports, 34 stamps of different countries, two PAN cards, 12 luxury watches, a laptop, and multiple mobile phones. His residence was decorated to resemble a legitimate diplomatic mission, complete with national flags and diplomatic insignia. The extent of the forgery points to a large racket, investigators said.

According to investigators, Jain had told police that he first came into contact with controversial godman Chandraswami in London around 2000. Chandraswami introduced him to Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi and Syed Ehsan Ali, a former Hyderabad resident who later acquired Turkish nationality.

Jain is presently booked under an FIR registered 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) at Kavi Nagar police station.

In earlier statements, police said Jain was appointed an honorary consul by Westarctica in 2016 and an advisor by Seborga in 2012 — titles that may have started as symbolic acknowledgements by unrecognised micronations but were allegedly misused to build a false empire of influence. He used the guise of a diplomat to offer services ranging from establishing shell firms abroad to facilitating financial transactions outside regulatory purview.

To be sure, micronations, like those Jain claimed to represent, are self-declared sovereign entities that lack recognition by established countries or institutions like the United Nations. India does not recognise these entities, making any consular or diplomatic claims linked to them legally meaningless.

Following Jain’s arrest, Westarctica issued a statement distancing itself from him. “Jain has been indefinitely suspended as a representative of our organisation,” the group said.

Police say the focus will now be on identifying those who bought into Jain’s micronation fantasy — and on uncovering whether any of them used their fake diplomatic cover for illegal or subversive activities.