Indian police arrest man for operating 'fake embassy'

NEW DELHI: Indian police have arrested a man accused of operating a fake embassy from a rented residence near the capital and defrauding job seekers by offering them bogus overseas employment opportunities.

According to local police, 47-year-old Harsh Vardhan Jain was running an "illegal West Arctic embassy" from a house in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, a city adjoining New Delhi.

Jain allegedly presented himself as an ambassador of fictitious countries such as "West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, and Lodonia," authorities said.

He allegedly used vehicles with fake diplomatic plates and shared doctored photos of himself with Indian leaders to bolster his claims.

"His main activities involved acting as a broker to secure work in foreign countries for companies and private individuals, as well as operating a hawala (money transfer) racket through shell companies," the police said in a statement following his arrest earlier this week.

He is also accused of money laundering.

During a raid on Jain's property, police said they recovered $53,500 in cash in addition to doctored passports and forged documents bearing stamps of India's foreign ministry.

AFP was unable to reach Jain or his representatives for comment.

Westarctica, cited by the police as one of the countries Jain claimed to be representing, is a US-registered nonprofit "dedicated to studying and preserving this vast, magnificent, desolate region" of Western Antarctica.

In a statement, it said it had appointed Jain as its "Honorary Consul to India" after he had made a "generous donation".

"He was never granted the position or authority of ambassador," it added.