Scam 2003 Abdul Karim Telgi
Scam 2003 The Telgi Story
Abdul Karim Telgi was the mastermind behind one of India’s most infamous counterfeiting scandals.
He built a counterfeit empire worth ₹30,000 crore before being sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2006.
Telgi’s scam involved the creation and sale of fake stamp papers to bulk buyers, including banks, insurance companies, and stock brokerage firms.
He had a network of 300 agents who helped him carry out this operation.
The magnitude of this operation was staggering, with estimates soaring to ₹30,000 crore almost 3.6 billion dollars.
The scandal was so extensive that it even ensnared several police officers and government officials.
He was arrested in November 2001 after police officials caught forged papers.
The court sentenced him to 30 years of imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 202 crores.
It was only in 2000 when the police caught two of His men transporting the fake stamp papers in Bengaluru.
The men lay bare all the details of the scam to the police. The police raided multiple spots in Bengaluru and seized the counterfeit legal documents.
He ran his counterfeit stamp paper scam for over a decade. According to ‘The Financial Times’ in 2003, at least 12 cases relating to these stamps were registered against Telgi in Maharashtra and an additional 15 cases from other states between 1992 and 2002.
