Abdul Karim Telgi (1961-2017) was a convicted Indian
counterfeit
To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...
er. He earned money by printing counterfeit
stamp paper in India.
Early life
Telgi's mother was Shariefabee Ladsaab Telgi, and his father was an employee of
Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...
. His father died while he was young. Telgi paid for his education at Sarvodaya Vidyalaya Khanapur, an
English medium
An English-medium education system is one that uses English as the primary medium of instruction—particularly where English is not the mother tongue of the students.
Initially this is associated with the expansion of English from its homeland i ...
school, by selling fruits and vegetables on trains. Eventually, he moved to
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
. Seven years later, he returned to India, when he began a counterfeiting career, originally focusing on fake passports. He started a business to export manpower to Saudi Arabia and opened a company, Arabian Metro Travels at
New Marine Lines. He used to create several fake documents that would facilitate laborers’ smooth passage at the airport even if their passport had an ECR (emigration check required) stamp or other issues that could raise red flags for immigration officials. This practice was called “pushing” in the parlance of manpower exporters.
Counterfeiting career
Telgi moved to more complex counterfeiting when he began to counterfeit stamp paper. He appointed 300 people as agents who sold the fakes to bulk purchasers, including banks, insurance companies, and stock brokerage firms. The size of the scam was estimated to be more than
[ ] One aspect of the scandal that caused much concern was that it required the involvement of many police officers and other government employees including Nikhil Kothari. An Assistant Police Investigator was found to have a net worth of over , despite making a salary of only per month.
Several police officers were implicated in the case.
Pradip Sawant
Pradip Sawant (born 1962) is an Indian Police Officer, currently serving as the Deputy commissioner of police (India), DCP Security Branch in Mumbai Police. He is a recipient of the President's Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2002. He w ...
, then
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Branch, Mumbai, was discharged but subsequently reinstated after being found innocent. Then police officer S M Mushrif, known for the book ''Who killed Karkare'' took decisive measures in this case.
On 17 January 2006, Telgi and several associates were sentenced to 30 years
rigorous imprisonment. On 28 June 2007, Telgi was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 13 years for another aspect of the scandal. He was also fined . The Income Tax Department requested that Telgi's property be confiscated to pay the fine.
He had been in jail for 13 years.
Personal life
Telgi used to go to dance bars and once showered Rs 90 lakh on one bar dancer in Topaz Bar at Grant Road, Mumbai. He was said to be in love with a bar dancer, Tarannumn Khan.
Death
Telgi was suffering from
meningitis
Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...
and died on 23 October 2017 at Victoria Hospital, Bengaluru. He was suffering from
diabetes
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...
and
hypertension
Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...
for over 20 years, besides other ailments.
In popular culture
* ''Mudrank: The Stamp'' is a 2009 Indian
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
-language thriller film directed by Shakir Shah based on the stamp scandal.
* ''Paper'' is a 2020 Indian web series by
Ullu
Ullu is an Over-The-Top media streaming platform, owned and maintained by Vibhu Agarwal, founder and group CEO of Ullu and Atrangii. It is currently available for Android and iOS.
Shows Web series
Short films
Controversy and Legal action
...
based on the stamp scandal and stars
Rohit Roy
Rohit Bose Roy (born 5 April 1969) is an Indian television and film actor. He is known for his role in Hindi television serials such as ''Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand'' and ''Swabhimaan''. Besides working in television series, Roy has also act ...
as Telgi.
* ''Money Mafia'' is a documentary series that showcases the details of eight scandals in India. The first episode, ''Fake Stamp Papers'', is about Telgi's scandal.
* ''
Scam 2003'' is an upcoming Indian web series based directed by
Hansal Mehta
Hansal Mehta (born 29 April 1968) is an Indian filmmaker. He started his career with television show ''Khana Khazana'' (1993–2000) and later moved on to directing films like ''Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!!'' (2000), ''Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai?'' (2002) and ...
and produced by
Applause Entertainment
Applause Entertainment, a venture of the Aditya Birla Group of Companies, headed by Sameer Nair
Sameer Nair (born 1965) is an Indian media executive and business professional currently serving as CEO of Applause Entertainment Limited. He ...
. It is based on the 2003 stamp paper scam by Telgi and is a sequel to ''
Scam 1992
''Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story'' is an Indian Hindi-language biographical financial thriller streaming television series on SonyLIV directed by Hansal Mehta, with Jai Mehta serving as the co-director. Based on the 1992 Indian stock market ...
'' about the
1992 Indian stock market scam by
Harshad Mehta
Harshad Shantilal Mehta (29 July 1954 — 31 December 2001) was an Indian stockbroker and a convicted fraudster. Mehta's involvement in the 1992 Indian securities scam made him infamous as a market manipulator.
Of the 27 criminal charges br ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telgi, Abdul Karim
1961 births
2017 deaths
Indian fraudsters
Indian counterfeiters
Indian prisoners and detainees
Prisoners and detainees of Maharashtra
People convicted of fraud
Crime in Maharashtra
Corruption in Maharashtra
21st-century Indian Muslims
21st-century Indian criminals
21st-century Indian people
People convicted of forgery