Key points
- Suspect allegedly claimed to be ambassador for fictitious countries
- His main activities involved acting as a broker to secure work in foreign countries
- He is also accused of money laundering
ISLAMABAD: Indian police have arrested a man accused of running a bogus embassy from a rented residential building near the capital, New Delhi, and recovered cars with fake diplomatic plates.
The suspect impersonated an ambassador and allegedly duped people for money by promising overseas employment, said senior police officer Sushil Ghule of Uttar Pradesh state’s special task force in northern India.
According to AP, Harshvardhan Jain, 47, claimed to have acted as an adviser or ambassador to entities such as “Seborga” or “Westarctica.”
Jain, according to police, claimed to be the ambassador of fictional nations “like West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, Lodonia”.
Doctored photos
He allegedly used vehicles with fake diplomatic plates and shared doctored photos of himself with Indian leaders to bolster his claims.
“His main activities involved acting as a broker to secure work in foreign countries for companies and private individuals, as well as operating a hawala (money transfer) racket through shell companies,” the police said in a statement following his arrest earlier this week.
He is also accused of money laundering.
During a raid on Jain’s property, police said they recovered $53,500 in cash in addition to doctored passports and forged documents bearing stamps of India’s foreign ministry, according to AFP.
“Honorary Consul to India”
Westarctica, cited by the police as one of the countries Jain claimed to be representing, is a US-registered nonprofit “dedicated to studying and preserving this vast, magnificent, desolate region” of Western Antarctica.
In a statement, it said it had appointed Jain as its “Honorary Consul to India” after he had made a “generous donation”.
“He was never granted the position or authority of ambassador,” it added.
