In the Indian city of Ghaziabad, located on the outskirts of New Delhi, law enforcement officers arrested a 47-year-old man who organized a fake embassy of non-existent countries and pretended to be a diplomat for a long time. By information of the Uttar Pradesh police, it is about Harshvardhan Jain – the organizer of a large-scale fraud scheme that covered several areas.
The man introduced himself as the ambassador of “countries” that do not exist on the political map of the world, in particular “Seborga” – an unrecognized micronation in Italy, and “Westarctica” – a fictional territory in the Antarctic, which is periodically mentioned on the Internet as a humorous project. Under the guise of these “diplomatic missions”, he rented premises in Ghaziabad, set it up as an official representation and used it for fraudulent activities.
Investigators found that Jain was deceiving people by promising them assistance in finding employment abroad. He displayed purported diplomatic credentials backed by fake seals of the Ministry of External Affairs of India and other countries, which were recovered during the search. Police also said they found fake photographs of Jain with world leaders in his apartment, apparently to boost the credibility of potential victims.
In addition, the law enforcement officers found four cars on which license plates stylized as diplomatic ones were installed. According to the investigation, the swindler used them to create the illusion of official status.
Harshvardhan Jain has also been charged with money laundering, according to police, using shell companies for financial transactions of dubious origin. As a result of the searches, the law enforcement officers seized cash totaling almost 4.5 million Indian rupees (about 52 thousand US dollars), as well as a certain amount of foreign currency.
The investigation is ongoing. Indian security forces are currently trying to establish the circle of persons who were deceived by the pseudo-diplomat, and are also checking whether he had accomplices. In the mass media, this story is already being compared to movies about brilliant adventurers, but the local authorities emphasize that behind the sophisticated theatrics there is real damage caused to gullible people.
