The Indian police announced the arrest of 47-year-old Harsh Vardhan Jain, who set up a false embassy in Ghaziabad, near New Delhi, to defraud money in the name of providing overseas jobs and to operate an illegal transnational remittance system (“hawala” network) through shell companies. The case revealed an alarmingly complex eight-year fraud involving the falsification of diplomatic plates, documents and photographs.
According to information disclosed by the Indian police on 23 July 2025, Hash Walden Jayan operates a fake embassy in a rented residential building in Ghaziabad, disguised as “Ambassadors” or “advisers” of a fictional microstate such as “Westarchica”, “Seborga” or “Poulvia”.
Jayan was lured by the provision of overseas jobs and deceived victims into paying high fees. He used a false diplomatic identity and a photograph (alleged) of world leaders to enhance his credibility. Through shell companies and the “hawala” network (an informal cross-border transfer system), Jayan was suspected of money-laundering and the transfer of large sums of money to offshore accounts. A preliminary police investigation found that it involved up to Rs. 30 billion (approximately $358 million).
During the raid, the police seized four luxury cars with false diplomatic plates, cash of Rs. 4.5 million (approximately US$ 52,000) and other foreign currency, forged Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stamps, false stamps in nearly 36 countries, forged passports and altered photographs of Indian leaders.
Ghayan was arrested on 21 July in Ghaziabad and faced multiple charges of forgery, forgery and possession of false documents. The police also found that he was born in a wealthy industrial family, had studied business in India and London and had been arrested in 2011 for holding illegal satellite phones.
