The arrest of Harshvardhan Jain, a 47-year-old man from Ghaziabad for operating a fake embassy, has revealed an elaborate web of deception, with alleged links to a Rs 300 crore scam, 162 foreign trips in a decade, and a network of shell companies with international reach. The man, Harshvardhan Jain, had been masquerading as a diplomat for years while allegedly luring people with overseas job offers and laundering money through the hawala route.

The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) arrested Jain last week from a swanky, two-storey rented house in Ghaziabad. The premises bore a nameplate declaring it as the “Grand Duchy of Westarctica” and identifying Jain as “H.E. HV Jain, Honorary Consul.”

An NDTV report says that Jain had rented the current building just six months ago, but the fake embassy operation had allegedly been running since 2017, a span of nearly eight years.

Flags of India and the fictitious Westarctica — a self-proclaimed micronation in Antarctica with no international recognition — were displayed prominently outside the building. The STF seized four cars with fake diplomatic number plates, forged documents, and a luxury watch collection during the raid.