Self-styled envoy to micronations held for hawala, forgery from Ghaziabad

The conman’s considerable luck ran out late on Tuesday after the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force arrested him from his rented accommodation in Ghaziabad

Ghaziabad

After producing him before court,Jain was sent to 14 days’ judicial custody and UPSTF will apply for police custody remand (PCR). (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

For almost a decade, you could head to a two-storey bungalow in Ghaziabad’s Kavi Nagar, where 47-year-old Harsha Vardhan Jain was allegedly (fraudulently) acting as the envoy for 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”.

But the conman’s considerable luck ran out late on Tuesday after the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UP-STF) arrested him from his rented accommodation in Ghaziabad. Police said that under the cover of a consulate, he allegedly undertook illegal activities, such as facilitating hawala transactions and helping domestic clients set up offshore companies and accounts.

He also allegedly used his stature as an “envoy” to assure people that he could get them jobs and university spots abroad on cash payments, investigators said.

“He used diplomatic number plates on his vehicles and morphed photos with prominent figures like the PM and President to impress people…His main activities included running a hawala racket through shell companies,” said Uttar Pradesh additional director general of police (law and order), Amitabh Yash.

Police recovered ₹44.7 lakh from the premises and foreign currency with an exchange value of around ₹30 lakh, four luxury cars, including an Audi and a Mercedes, 20 fake VIP registration number plates of diplomats, 12 fake passports, two PAN cards, 34 stamps of different countries, 12 premium watches, a laptop, a mobile phone, and other documents.

A case was registered under sections 318(4) (cheating), 336(3) (forgery), 338 (forgery of valuable security), and 340(2) (forged documents or electronic record) of the BNS at Kavi Nagar police station in Ghaziabad.

After producing him before court, he was sent to 14 days’ judicial custody and UPSTF will apply for police custody remand (PCR).

“For the past few days, police were receiving tips from multiple sources that a fake embassy was operational in Kavi Nagar, and the suspect used to move in vehicles carrying VIP registration number plates of diplomats. He also installed flags of different countries on his cars and was involved in duping people by posing as an ambassador to these micronations,” read the first information report filed by UP-STF sub-inspector Sachin Kumar.

Senior officials from UP-STF, on condition of anonymity, told HT that they received inputs from a central agency.

The FIR added, “When central agencies were contacted to check the authenticity, it was confirmed that no embassy can be run without approval from the ministry of external affairs of India, and it is against the sovereignty of India.”

A team of 12 UP-STF officers raided the residence at KB-35 in Kavi Nagar around 11.30pm on Tuesday. Police said they’re looking at the BBA graduate’s links with self-styled godman Chandraswami and arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, who he allegedly met in London two decades ago.

Jain was allegedly appointed an advisor by Seborga in 2012 and an honorary consul by Westarctica in 2016, police said. He allegedly converted his office in an upscale Ghaziabad neighbourhood into a fake consulate by hoisting flags of different micronations he represented and using four luxury vehicles that illegally sported diplomatic registration plates.

To be sure, micronations are self-proclaimed entities that claim to be sovereign states but are not recognised as such by most countries and multilateral bodies, such as the United Nations. These micronations aren’t recognised by India, thereby ruling out the existence of an envoy.

“During the investigation, when Jain was questioned about his work, including cars, other countries’ flags, and diplomats’ registration numbers, and asked to provide authenticity, he confessed that he was running a fake embassy to dupe businessmen and operate a hawala racket,” additional superintendent of police (Noida STF) Raj Kumar Mishra said.

“Jain was running the fake embassy in Ghaziabad since 2016. Earlier, he used to operate from his father’s home at KB-45, but around five months ago, he, along with his family—wife and minor son—shifted to KB-35 at a rent of ₹1.8 lakh per month, while his father stayed back at his home,” Mishra added.

Seborga is a village and a self-proclaimed principality in the region of Liguria near the French border. Ladonia is a micronation, proclaimed in 1996 by artist Lars Vilks. It is located on the remote Kullaberg Peninsula in southern Sweden. Westartica is a micronation, located in the western portion of Antarctica. Paulovia is a fictitious country.

Mishra said Jain posed as the consul of the micronations and assured Indian businessmen that he had a stronghold in the US and UK, where he could establish their businesses and help them grow internationally.

A senior officer involved in the investigation, requesting anonymity, said: “Using his credentials as an ambassador, Jain used to do liaison work for domestic clients, including opening offshore companies and accounts, routing money through hawala using his shell companies, getting job placements in foreign countries, and even getting admission done in foreign universities. He had contacts to do liaison work in most countries, and they used to divide the commission after getting the work done.”

“Investigations revealed Jain’s past connections with Chandraswami and Adnan Khashoggi, an international arms dealer,” Amitabh Yash said. “In 2012, he was found with illegal satellite phones, and a case was registered at the Kavi Nagar police station in Ghaziabad.”