The investigation into the fake embassy at Ghaziabad run by Harshvardhan Jain—who claimed to represent various micronations as a diplomat—has revealed potential links to a ₹300-crore-scam.
Earlier this week, the ongoing probe by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) revealed that Jain even had connections to controversial self-styled “godman” Chandraswami, who had been something of a spiritual advisor to former prime ministers P.V. Narasimha Rao, Chandra Shekhar and V.P. Singh.
However, the godman, alleged to have a hand in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, was arrested in 1996 for swindling $100,000 from a London-based businessman.
The probe revealed another side of the story: Chandraswami also introduced Jain to arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi and Western Advisory Group founder Ahsan Ali Sayed in 2000, both of whom were businessmen notorious for arms trade and large-scale financial scams.
The UP STF is currently probing the extent of Jain's involvement in opening 25 shell companies that facilitated Western Advisory Group's Swiss brokerage scam amounting to nearly £25 million (₹300 crores)—which had led to Sayed's arrest in 2022, as per an NDTV report.
His involvement in arms dealing is also being probed in detail, explained UP-STF Additional Superintendent of Police Raj Kumar Mishra, a Hindustan Times report said.
They have already seized four vehicles with diplomatic number plates, 12 diplomatic passports of various micronations, Forged documents with the seal of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), two forged PAN cards, 34 seals of various countries and companies, two forged press cards, company documents, and ₹44,70,000 in cash, in addition to foreign currency, an ANI report said, quoting the ADG (Law and Order), Uttar Pradesh.
Westarctica, one of the micronations that Jain claimed to represent, has also denounced his actionsin a statement, clarifying that although he had been made a 'Honorary Consul to India', he was “never granted the position or authority of 'ambassador'”, and that “by calling his home an 'embassy', Mr Jain was in violation of Westarctica's protocol” for its representatives.
“As a result of his unauthorized activities, Mr Jain has been indefinitely suspended as a representative of our organization,” the micronation's statement added.