00:00They grabbed $44 lakh in cash and about $50,000 as foreign currency,
00:051 fake diplomatic passports, 83 diplomatic number plates,
00:0934 rubber stamps, 4 is made up countries,
00:11then 2 forged bank cards, 2 fake press cards and a stash of luxury watches.
00:17A Porsche bungalow in Ghaziabad, just 35 kilometers away from Delhi.
00:21It was usually decorated with foreign flags, luxury cars and a guy calling himself an ambassador.
00:28But to countries which don't even exist.
00:31This isn't a made up story, it's a real life scam of Harshavardhan Jain,
00:35a 47 year old con man who ran a fake embassy for 7 years.
00:39Yes, you heard that right.
00:41Hello everyone, I am Gaurang bringing you the latest on Lokmat Types.
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00:56Today we get this wild story in front of you just to expose how you pulled it off
01:00and how could anyone so easily dig into India's legal gaps.
01:04Also, we will try and understand what real embassies do.
01:07So grab a seat, the story will blow your mind.
01:10On July 22, 2025, the Uttar Pradesh police or the STF got a tip from Central Intelligence
01:16and raided a posh house in Ghaziabad's Kavinagar.
01:19What they found there was completely unreal.
01:22A fake embassy run by Harshavardhan Jain who called himself the Baron or the Council General
01:28of made-up places like Vestatica, Saburga, Polvia and Laudonia.
01:33A Mercedes and Audi parked outside his house with fake diplomatic number plates,
01:38flags of fictional nations flying high and morphed photos of Jain with big names like Prime Minister
01:44Narendra Modi and former President APJ Abdul Kalam.
01:47So Harshavardhan Jain wasn't always a con man.
01:50Yes, trust me.
01:52He was born into a wealthy Ghaziabad family that owned marble mines in Rajasthan.
01:57Jain studied at ITS College in Ghaziabad and got an MBA degree from the London College of Applied Science.
02:04Life looked good until his father passed away and the family hit financial trouble.
02:09That's when things got shady. In the early 2000s, Jain linked up with controversial god man
02:14Chandraswami to help him to move to London and set up companies which were his friends
02:19for hiding unaccounted money, according to the investigators.
02:23As per reports, he even rubbed shoulders with international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.
02:28Talk about a doctor.
02:29After Chandraswami's death, Jain came back to Ghaziabad and cooked up his boldest camp.
02:35Starting around in 2016, he rented a fancy bungalow for 1.8 lakh a month and turned it into Consulate General of West Artica.
02:44West Artica, by the way, is a micro-nation in Antarctica, founded by a US Navy officer,
02:50with zero recognition from any country.
02:52Jain also claimed titles like Advisor to Saburga, a self-proclaimed principality in Italy,
02:57and ambassador of fake places like Polvia and Laudonia.
03:01He issued fake diplomatic passports, forged Ministry of External Affairs seals,
03:06and even organized charities like Bhandaras to look it legit.
03:10All this was just to trick people into believing that he was a powerful diplomat.
03:15When the STF raided his house, they were floored.
03:18They grabbed 44 lakh in cash and about $53,000 as foreign currency, 12 fake diplomatic passports,
03:2518 fake diplomatic number plates, 34 rubber stamps for his made-up countries, then two forged pancards,
03:31two fake press cards, and a stash of luxury watches.
03:35Jain later admitted that he was running a job scam, promising people to work abroad, which never happened,
03:41and a hawala racket moving illegal money through shell companies.
03:45Additionally, this wasn't his first run with the law.
03:48He was caught with an illegal satellite phone in 2011, right there, in the same Kavinagar area.
03:54Now, you're probably wondering, how does someone pull off a fake embassy for seven years?
03:59The answer lies, India's legal loopholes.
04:02Real embassies follow the Vienna Convention of 1961, which gives diplomats perks like tax breaks and immunity.
04:09But India doesn't have a tight system to check if someone's claiming to be a diplomat from a fake country.
04:16Micronations like Vastataka aren't even recognized by the UN or India's Ministry of External Affairs.
04:23Yet, Jain's fake credentials were unnoticed.
04:26So, the question here is why?
04:28And the answer to it is that there is no real-time database to verify diplomatic number plates
04:34or documents and local authorities often don't dig deeper.
04:38Under India's Motor Vehicles Act, diplomatic cars get special number plates.
04:43But the process to issue or track them can be sloppy at state levels.
04:47Nobody questioned Jain's fake number plates.
04:50Same with his forged seals and passports.
04:53There is not enough cross-checking between agencies.
04:56Plus, in India, a car with a fancy car and a diplomat title gets instant respect.
05:02Jain banked on that trust, using mocked photos and fake credentials to scam people.
05:07But here's the big question.
05:09How did India's top intelligence agencies miss this scam for seven long years?
05:14The CBI, which investigates big frauds and corruption cases, didn't catch him.
05:19The Intelligence Bureau, which is supposed to spot fake identities
05:23and protect the country from such threats, also failed here.
05:26Even RAW, the agency that looks into international links, didn't notice anything.
05:31Despite Jain's connection with shady people like Adnan Khashoggi, the DRI,
05:36which keeps an eye on illegal deals and smuggling, didn't spot this money laundering either.
05:41So what went wrong?
05:43Was there a lack of coordination between these agencies?
05:46Or did Jain's fake diplomat image fool them all?
05:49This entire case raises a serious question about how well we track podsters who use fake
05:55names and fake power to cheat the system.
05:58After this incident, many of you will ask, what do real embassies do?
06:03Don't worry, I will answer.
06:05Basically, real embassies are official offices set up by one country in another
06:10to represent the government and citizens.
06:12They issue visas, renew passports, help citizens in trouble abroad,
06:17and also promote trade and cultural ties.
06:20For example, the Indian embassy in the US might help an Indian tourist with a lost passport
06:26or a work on a trade.
06:27All this is done with approval from both countries,
06:30following strict international rules under the Vienna Convention.
06:33So Jain's personal embassy was just a front to scam people with fake job offers
06:38and launder money through shady companies.
06:40Basically, Harshavardhan Jain's scam is a wild tale from a deception.
06:44From a rich kid to a fake diplomat, he fooled an entire city
06:48or the entire nation with his flashy cars, mocked photos, all while running a job fraud
06:54or an hawala racket.
06:55On July 22, the STF shut him down and he is now in a 14-day judicial custody,
07:01facing charges under the Bharatiya Niai Sahita for fraud, forgery and misrepresentation.
07:07But the police aren't done.
07:08They are probing his links to international figures like
07:11Arm Dealer, Adnan Khashoggi and many others.
07:14So now this case screams for tighter laws to stop fake diplomats from exploiting India's trust.
07:20So what do you think?
07:21How can we prevent scams like this?
07:24Drop your thoughts in the comments and hit that like and subscribe button
07:28for more jaw-dropping stories.
07:30This is your host Gaurang Kadam for Lokman Times signing off.
07:34Stay curious, stay sharp, and we will see you next time.
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