The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) recently exposed a  scam in Ghaziabad where a man named Harshvardhan Jain had been running a fake embassy from a rented bungalow in Kavi Nagar. For years, Jain posed as a high-profile ambassador of self-declared micronations, living a lavish life with luxury cars, cash, and fake diplomatic items, all without raising suspicion.

All about Harshvardhan Jain 

Before turning to crime, Jain had a privileged background. He completed two MBA degrees, one from the London College of Applied Science and another from ITS College in Ghaziabad. His father was a businessman and owned marble mines in Rajasthan, but after his father’s death, the family suffered heavy losses. Around that time, Jain came into contact with the controversial godman Chandraswami, who helped him move to London. There, Jain opened several companies and also worked closely with Adnan Khashoggi, an international arms dealer. Later, he expanded his business network to Dubai.

Jain’s criminal history goes back to at least 2012 when he was booked under the Telegraph Act after a satellite phone was found in his possession by Ghaziabad Police. Over the years, he built an image of being a powerful and well-connected diplomat by associating with shady individuals, running fake companies, and fooling people with false promises and forged documents.

After his recent arrest, a fresh FIR has been lodged against him at the Kavi Nagar Police Station under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for fraud, cheating, forgery, and impersonation. The STF has called his arrest a major breakthrough and warned the public not to fall for fake diplomats or false claims of foreign job offers. Authorities have urged people to verify all credentials and not trust appearances alone, no matter how convincing they may seem.

How he fooled people?

Jain, 47, had transformed the bungalow into what appeared to be a real embassy. He displayed national flags, used cars with blue diplomatic-style number plates, and had official-looking nameplates outside the house. One of them even read “H.E. H.V. Jain”, where “H.E.” stands for “His Excellency”, a title typically reserved for real diplomats. Jain went to great lengths to appear legitimate. He even used edited photographs of himself with prominent Indian leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam to convince people of his power and influence.

On the night of July 22, the STF raided Jain’s residence and arrested him. During the search, they discovered Rs 44.7 lakh in Indian currency, foreign currency in large amounts, four luxury cars with fake diplomatic plates, twelve fake passports of unrecognized micronations, and many forged documents including fake PAN cards, fake Ministry of External Affairs papers, and fake press IDs. The officers also found luxury watches, counterfeit seals, a laptop, and mobile phones that were used in his operations.

Jain’s scam was well-planned. He would claim to be a diplomat from little-known micronations such as Westarctica, Seborga, and Poulbia Lodonia, countries that are not legally recognised anywhere in the world. Using these false identities, he would cheat people and companies by promising them overseas jobs, international business opportunities, and government-level help. He even issued fake ID cards and ran a hawala network through shell companies to launder money.