Since this last weekend, when I saw this juicy fraud story pop on a news channel, gotta admit, I’ve been salivating to write about it.
A man called Harshvardhan Jain: was running a fraudulent embassy for a micronation, for almost a decade, and went unnoticed! This D-I-Y embassy was run out of a swank little rented bungalow in Ghaziabad; decked out like a mini-UN, with fluttering flags, official seals, diplomatic plates on shiny Mercs and Audis. You get the picture. And Jain – Pardon me – may I say his excellency called himself “H.E. HV Jain, Honorary Consul of Westarctica.”
He was proferred this ceremonial title by making “generous” donations to a climate driven non-profit run by the group that lays claim to this land. Bizarro?
Turns out, there were other micronations that also sought his imaginary diplomatic services. List includes Seborga, Lodonia, and Poulvia. All just a front, of course. So, what was going on BTS?
Allegations include overseas job scams, Hawala links, even counter intelligence!
Allegedly Jain promised overseas job placements and large loans for a “brokerage”. The U.P. Special task force that busted the scheme uncovered 25 shell companies registered by him, 10 foreign bank accounts, stashes of luxury watches, cash, forged passports – what have you.
Turns out he had friends in all the low places. Remember the convicted godman Chandraswami who was close to multiple PMs? He had reportedly introduced Jain to Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, and fugitive conman Ahsan Ali Sayed—the same guy behind a Switzerland‑based loan fraud racket that allegedly cleaned out 25 million pounds, Sterling (₹300 crore) in dodgy commissions.
AML/ Transaction monitoring folks reading this, can see all the fincrime alarm bells this case should have tripped up. In fact, this 300-crore racket seems to have all the trimmings of a full-on high stakes fin-crime thriller. Wrapped up in a complex web of convicted PEPs (politically exposed person), an arms dealer, an ex-conman who ran an international fraud racket, with our jet setting protagonist flying around the globe. Shell companies, donations to charities, high risk jurisdictions, fake passports, possibly diplomatic couriers – it’s like a roller-coaster spy thriller on a casting budget.
(Are you one of those thinking – so what’s a micronation? Short version. It’s a notional entity – not internationally recognized as a nation state. Though it’s very real territory, claimed as independent by a person or group. It may have flags, seals and other paraphernalia. But nothing’s real. Translation? There’s no UN vote. No international borders. No Olympic contingent. And no. Definitely no Miss Westarctica nomination to the Miss World pageant.)
In related content I’ve written about micronation Kailasa in Gods of Fraud.