A diary recovered from the office of Harsh Vardhan Jain in Ghaziabad contains clues that can help unravel the fake embassy racket operated by him, the special task force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh police has said.
The police said the house alternately acted as the diplomatic mission for Westarctica, Seborga, Poulbia or Lodonia, complete with flags of the “micronations” and luxury cars on the kerb.
Jain, who posed as the ambassador of these “micronations”, used to hang photoshopped pictures with world leaders in his office to add a veneer of credibility.
Micronations are self-proclaimed sovereign states that lack a legal basis for their existence, as they are not recognised by other countries.
The police said the house was used for a range of criminal activities, from duping individuals and companies of money by promising jobs and business deals abroad to running a multinational hawala network. Jain also promised his clients nationalities of the micronations.
“The diary contains the contact numbers of some companies registered in foreign countries. There are also several names and mobile numbers of Indian
residents and foreign nationals. It also mentions some transactions done by Jain
and his family members in other countries,” said a police officer who didn’t wish to
be identified.
He said the house belonged to Sushil Anup Singh.
“Dimple Jain, the wife of the accused, used to pay Singh ₹80,000 per month as rent.
She has a silver jewellery shop in Chandni Chowk,” the officer added.
Police officers suggested that Jain had been running his racket since at least 2017, when he declared himself the representative of Westarctica. His ambitions kept expanding from there.
The micronation of Westarctica, in a statement on its website, said: “Mr Jain was an authorised representative engaging in unauthorised activities.”
He had been made an “honorary Consul to India” after he made a “generous donation” to Westarctica, the statement said.
Dhawal Jaiswal, deputy commissioner of police of Ghaziabad city, said: “We have got some clues that would help in the investigation. The STF has handed over the
case to Kavinagar police station. We will seek the remand of the accused for further
interrogation.”
The STF raid in Jain’s office on Tuesday had yielded around ₹44.70 lakh in cash, four luxury cars with fake diplomatic registration plates, 12 political passports of
some real and fictitious micronations, two fake PAN cards, 34 fake rubber stamps of the foreign ministry, other countries and companies, some foreign currencies and 12 luxury watches.
The STF had found that Jain had taken diskha (spiritual initiation) from controversial godman Chandraswami. He was also allegedly associated with international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.
Bhaskar Verma, additional commissioner of police of Kavinagar, said: “We are moving the court for Jain’s police custody so that we can interrogate him and understand how he used to run his fake embassy from Ghaziabad. It is a racket and not the work of a single man. We need to get to the bottom of this.”
Additional reporting by New York Times News Service