UP STF arrests Ghaziabad man for running fake embassies of micronations

The accused offered "diplomatic" job placements and business opportunities abroad, while also allegedly running a hawala racket through shell companies

A man in Ghaziabad has been arrested for operating fake diplomatic missions of unrecognised entities known as micronations, police said on Wednesday, reported Hindustan Times. The accused, Harsh Vardhan Jain, is said to have posed as an envoy of fictional nations such as West Arctica, Seborga, Poulvia, Lodonia, and Londonia, from a rented house in the city’s Kavi Nagar locality.

 

According to the officials of the Noida unit of the UP Special Task Force, Jain offered “diplomatic” job placements and business opportunities abroad, while also allegedly running a hawala racket through shell companies. He used luxury vehicles with fake diplomatic number plates, morphed photographs of himself with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the President, and other politicians to deceive people, reported Times Now. 

 

What are micronations?

 

Micronations are entities that claim to be independent sovereign states but are not officially recognised by any government or international organisation such as the United Nations. Unlike recognised sovereign states, micronations have no legal status under international law. Their “citizens”, “passports”, or “diplomatic missions” hold no validity.

 

Some micronations include Seborga (Italy), Molossia (the United States), and West Arctica (claimed in Antarctica). None of them is officially recognised.

 

What did the police find?

 

ADG Law and Order, Ghaziabad, said that the following was recovered during the raid:

 

• 4 luxury cars with fake plates
• 12 diplomatic passports for the micronations
• Forged Ministry of External Affairs documents, 
• 2 forged PAN cards
• 34 seals of different countries and companies 
• 2 forged press credentials
• ₹44.7 lakh in cash, foreign currency
• 18 additional diplomatic plates

 

The official said that he has prior links to people such as godman Chandraswami and arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. A case was also registered against Jain in 2011 involving an illegal satellite phone on record.

 

Chandraswami was a self-styled spiritual leader known for his close ties with influential political and business personalities both in India and overseas. His name came up during the investigation into the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, although no formal charges were brought against him. Meanwhile, Khashoggi was a Saudi businessman who played a central role in facilitating arms deals between Western defence firms and governments in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, in the 1980s, reported Times Now.