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It’s a textbook case of an overseas scam — except the victim was an American city.
Officials in Newark, New Jersey, were initially thrilled to partner with the Hindu nation of the United States of Kailasa.
The only problem? The country doesn’t exist.
After hosting “delegates” from the made-up country at a formal ceremony in January, City Hall has admitted that the whole thing was a scam led by notorious Indian fugitive Swami Nithyananda.
Newark officials said the agreement only lasted for six days and was rendered “baseless and void,” adding that no money was exchanged in the ceremony.
“Although this was a regrettable incident, the city of Newark remains committed to partnering with people from diverse cultures in order to enrich each other with connectivity, support, and mutual respect,” a city spokesperson said.
The sister city program was established after World War II to promote cultural and commercial ties between two municipalities around the world.
Newark is New Jersey’s largest city.
During the signing ceremony on Jan. 12, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka told the fake delegates: “I pray that our relationship helps us to understand cultural, social, and political development and improves the lives of everybody in both places.”
But there’s no improvement coming for the fictitious residents of Kailasa, and Newark residents only feel embarrassed that their leaders fell for a scam that could’ve been avoided through a simple Google search.
“No one in City Hall, not one person did a Google search, so maybe we need a transformation of City Hall because not one person said, ‘Let me go and Google and figure out this was a fake city,'” resident Shakee Merritt told CBS......
https://nypost.com/2023/03/15/newark-duped-in-sister-city-scam-by-nonexistent-hindu-nation-kailasa/
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And the guy that is running the scam is Swami Nithyananda and is an alleged serial rapist of at least 5 women. He fled to India to avoid prosecution. Nobody from Newark even Googled it.
Officials in Newark, New Jersey, were initially thrilled to partner with the Hindu nation of the United States of Kailasa.
The only problem? The country doesn’t exist.
After hosting “delegates” from the made-up country at a formal ceremony in January, City Hall has admitted that the whole thing was a scam led by notorious Indian fugitive Swami Nithyananda.
Newark officials said the agreement only lasted for six days and was rendered “baseless and void,” adding that no money was exchanged in the ceremony.
“Although this was a regrettable incident, the city of Newark remains committed to partnering with people from diverse cultures in order to enrich each other with connectivity, support, and mutual respect,” a city spokesperson said.
The sister city program was established after World War II to promote cultural and commercial ties between two municipalities around the world.
Newark is New Jersey’s largest city.
During the signing ceremony on Jan. 12, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka told the fake delegates: “I pray that our relationship helps us to understand cultural, social, and political development and improves the lives of everybody in both places.”
But there’s no improvement coming for the fictitious residents of Kailasa, and Newark residents only feel embarrassed that their leaders fell for a scam that could’ve been avoided through a simple Google search.
“No one in City Hall, not one person did a Google search, so maybe we need a transformation of City Hall because not one person said, ‘Let me go and Google and figure out this was a fake city,'” resident Shakee Merritt told CBS......
https://nypost.com/2023/03/15/newark-duped-in-sister-city-scam-by-nonexistent-hindu-nation-kailasa/
================================
And the guy that is running the scam is Swami Nithyananda and is an alleged serial rapist of at least 5 women. He fled to India to avoid prosecution. Nobody from Newark even Googled it.
