Everything To Know About Fake 'Embassy' Of Westarctica In Ghaziabad

In the city of Ghaziabad, located in Uttar Pradesh, there was a fancy two-storey building with four luxury cars with diplomatic number plates parked outside. Everyone could see it, and nobody thought anything was wrong. But this was actually a fake embassy, and a man named Harsh Vardhan Jain was running it. The fake 'embassy' has been busted by the Noida unit of the UP Special Task Force. They have also arrested 45-year-old Harsh Vardhan Jain, who said he was an ambassador from a country called West Arctica, but that country does not exist.

Beyond just West Arctica, he reportedly presented himself as a diplomatic official for a few other countries that don't actually exist, including Saborga, Poulvia, and Lodonia. Investigators found that Harsh Vardhan Jain created a whole setup to make his fake claims seem real. His rented house in Kavi Nagar had the flags of Westarctica, a micronation in Antarctica not recognised by any sovereign state in the world. According to The Indian Express, the interiors also looked exactly like a genuine office. It was filled with 12 fake diplomatic passports, false papers showing Ministry of External Affairs seals, fake PAN cards, rubber stamps from various countries and companies, and even bogus press cards. He also had foreign currency of multiple countries and fake photos showing him with high-ranking leaders.

By pretending to be a diplomat, Harsh Vardhan Jain influenced business people, promising them a way into global markets. Police said he also ran an illegal hawala network through shell companies. The fake embassy setup helped him look trustworthy when he scammed people who were seeking foreign investment or work permits abroad. A case was registered at the Kavi Nagar Police Station on the matter, and the investigation is ongoing. During the probe, investigators found that Ghaziabad Police had once arrested him for keeping an unauthorised satellite phone.

There are about a hundred of these micronations around the world. They claim to be independent countries but do not have a proper legal right to exist as nations. To assert their claims as independent nations, micronations do many things. They create their own passports, print their stamps, make their own coins, write national anthems, and design flags. Sometimes, they even declare war on countries that are actually recognised.