Harshvardhan Jain has been charged with forgery, impersonation and possession of fake documents

Indian police have arrested a British-educated man on suspicion of running a fake embassy that extorted workers by offering them jobs in non-existent countries.

Harshvardhan Jain, 47, is accused of impersonating an ambassador, possessing false diplomatic car number plates and promising employment in fake countries such as “Westarctica” and “Seborga”.

Sushil Ghule, a senior officer from the Uttar Pradesh police force, said Jain was also found with doctored photographs of himself posing with world leaders and dozens of fake government seals.

Jain was arrested at a rental property in Ghaziabad, northern India, where he ran the fake embassy, CNN reported on Saturday. During a search of the bungalow, police found millions of Indian rupees and other currencies, as well as four cars with false diplomatic plates and the flags of various countries.

Indian police have charged Jain with forgery, impersonation and possession of fake documents, including 12 diplomatic passports.

The bogus embassy was run from a building in Ghaziabad - AP

According to The Hindu, an Indian newspaper, the false passports identified Jain as the “Consul” of the non-existent micronations of “Westarctica”, “Saborga”, “Poulvia” and “Lodonia”.

Indian police have accused Jain of a “modus operandi of fraud, hawala [unofficial money transfers] and brokerage” and said his criminal enterprise had been running for nearly two decades.

He is understood to have at least 11 bank accounts in four countries, three of them in the UK, and multiple shell companies around the world, the Indian Express reported.

“He worked as a broker in Gulf and African countries. When he returned to India in 2011, he resumed operations from his family home before shifting to the rented bungalow,” Indian police said.

Luxury cars cars bearing fake diplomatic number plates outside the building - Uttar Pradesh Police Special Task Force via AP

India media reported that Jain hailed from a wealthy business family and had studied for a master’s degree in business administration at an unnamed London university.

The suspect is “part of an illegal arms trade network and [has] committed financial frauds in the garb of overseas firms”, the newspaper added, citing the Uttar Pradesh police force.

He was also reportedly arrested in 2012 by the same force for illegal possession of a satellite phone. Jain has not commented on the allegations, CNN reported on Saturday.

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