Overview

• On July 22, the UP Special Task Force’s Noida unit raided a rented bungalow in Ghaziabad’s Kavi Nagar and arrested Harsh Vardhan Jain for posing as a diplomat.
• Jain claimed to represent unrecognized micronations such as Westarctica, Saborga, Poulvia and Lodonia, projecting himself as a consul or ambassador with forged credentials.
• Police recovered four high-end vehicles with counterfeit diplomatic plates, 12 forged passports, MEA-style documents, rubber stamps of 34 countries, 18 diplomatic number plates, around ₹44 lakh in cash, foreign currency and shell company records.
• Officials say he used the fake embassy to broker overseas job placements and run a hawala money laundering network through shell companies, leveraging morphed photos with top Indian dignitaries to lend credibility.
• An FIR has been filed at the Kavi Nagar police station and the STF is expanding its probe to trace Jain’s accomplices and financial network.