*Addressed As Ambassador
*Parks Cars With Fake Diplomatic Numbers
*Flies Flags Of Different Countries
*Found With Cash Equivalent Of About N78m Aside Foreign Currencies
With full complement of mint-new cars bearing diplomatic plates, a building flying flags of different countries, and sundry paraphernalia of an embassy, an Indian man has been arrested for running a bogus embassy, in a major bust against fraud.
The daredevil scam saw the man operate from a rented residential building near Delhi, the Indian capital, with police recovering the cars as well as cash in different currencies.
The development has raised serious concerns that the dangerous new dimension to scamming could be borrowed by fraudsters all over the world, including Nigeria where the relevant authorities have their hands full battling internet scams and other evils.
The Indian suspect impersonated an ambassador and allegedly duped people for money by promising overseas employment, said the senior police officer Sushil Ghule of Uttar Pradesh state’s special taskforce in northern India.
According to police, Harshvardhan Jain, 47, claimed to have acted as an Advisor or Ambassador to entities such as “Seborga” or “Westarctica” -countries that do not exist on any map in the world.
Police also recovered multiple doctored photographs showing Jain with world leaders, and fake seals of India’s Foreign Ministry and nearly 36 countries, Ghule said.
Jain was also suspected of money laundering through shell companies abroad, Ghule said.
He faces charges of forgery, impersonation and possessing fake documents.
Police recovered four cars bearing fake diplomatic plates and nearly 4.5million Indian rupees (£38,000), or about N78,787,984.00, aside other foreign currencies in cash from Jain’s rented premises near the capital, which were adorned with international flags of several nations.
Jain or his lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment.
*Culled from today’s Associated Press reports, with additional input in-house .
