The suspect, 47-year-old Harshvardhan Jain, had styled himself the “Baron of Westartica” and projected the image of a globe-trotting diplomat, complete with diplomatic vehicles, forged documents and Photoshopped images of him alongside world leaders. But authorities say his real enterprise was far more mundane – and criminal.
Jain allegedly duped jobseekers by promising them employment abroad and laundered money through shell companies via the hawala system – an informal, unregulated method of transferring funds that operates outside traditional banking channels – according to the Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh Police.
“The accused was running the bogus embassy from a rented house and projected himself as a consul or ambassador of non-existent countries such as Westarctica, Saborga, Poulvia and Lodonia,” Additional Director General of Police Amitabh Yash told The Times of India.
Investigators described a surreal scene at the so-called consulate in Ghaziabad, just east of the Indian capital, where they found multiple national flags, forged seals from India’s Ministry of External Affairs, fabricated foreign passports and press credentials, and four cars bearing fake diplomatic licence plates.
