NEW DELHI: Harshvardhan Jain, the man who operated a fake embassy in Ghaziabad for nine years, was found to have travelled to 30 foreign nations nearly 200 times between 2005 and 2015, according to the Special Task Force (STF) which is investigating the matter.
The STF also found 25 shell companies registered under his name. Investigators revealed that during his stay at the UK, he had come close to India-born Turkish businessman Ahsan Ali Syed, who was arrested in London on November 22, 2022, for perpetrating a million-dollar loan fraud between September 2010 and May 2011. Syed, who was later extradited to Switzerland, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison by a local court for fraud and fleeing after collecting brokerage money in the name of securing loans for 16 companies.
Reportedly, Jain and Syed had registered several companies abroad, including State Trading Corporation Ltd and East India Company UK Ltd in the UK General Trading Co LLC in the UAE, Indira Overseas Ltd in Mauritius and Cameron Ispat Sarl in Cameroon, Africa.
Investigators are probing whether these were shell companies used for illicit activities like money laundering, tax evasion or fraud. A blue corner notice may be issued against Jain to understand more about his criminal activities abroad.