Ran a fake embassy for nearly 8 years; styled himself as the "Baron of Westarctica"; accused arrested.

Harshvardhan Jain, a resident of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, who had been running a fake embassy in the name of a fictitious country called "Westarctica," has been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF). Jain had reportedly been operating this fake embassy for nearly eight years.

He rented a luxury building to run the so-called embassy. Referring to himself as the "Baron of Westarctica," Jain allegedly lured people with promises of foreign jobs and extorted money from them. The STF has seized luxury cars with fake diplomatic number plates parked at the embassy premises, as well as forged passports from the office. Reports suggest that this entire operation was part of a broader money laundering network.



To gain public trust, Jain used morphed images of himself standing alongside the President, Prime Minister, and other prominent figures. According to NDTV, a police case had already been registered against him back in 2011 for the illegal possession of a satellite phone. A few days ago, Jain's photos were shared via an Instagram handle under the name “Westarctica,” claiming to be those of the Consulate General in New Delhi, according to the STF.

Westarctica was originally declared as a "nation" in 2001 by Travis McHenry, a former officer in the U.S. Navy. He self-proclaimed himself as the Grand Duke of the country, which he claimed to be located in Antarctica. McHenry claims Westarctica spans 620,000 square miles and has 2,356 citizens. Despite having its own flag and currency, no country in the world has officially recognized it.