Open In App

Scam 2003: Stamp Paper Scam by Abdul Karim Telgi

Improve
Improve
Like Article
Like
Save
Share
Report

There were many scams that took place in Indian history like the scam of 1992 which is also called as Harshad Mehta Scam, the 2G spectrum scam which is also called the mother of all scams, and many more like the Satyam Scam, Cobbler Scam of 1995, etc.

Meanwhile, after the massive hit of the scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story the directors are planning to release its’s second season that will be based on one of the biggest scams in Indian history named the Stamp Paper Scam 2003. This season will be based on the name of Abdul Karim Telgi who was the mastermind behind this scam and it is predicted that season 2 is going to break all records. They are planning to title it Scam 2003: The curious case of Abdul Karim Telgi. Sanjay Singh is credited with breaking the scam story back in the day and authored the Hindi book “Reporter ki Diary,” based on which the show will be adapted.

The scam of 2003 was one of the biggest Scams in Indian history. Abdul Karim Telgi was the mastermind behind the stamp paper scam. A fruit seller in his childhood, Abdul Karim Telgi began his career in Karnataka in 1961. At the time of his birth, his father worked for the railways but died when Abdul was young. When his father died, Abdul and his brother sold fruits at Khanapur Railway Station to passengers boarding. After graduating in Commerce from college, he became a sales executive in Mumbai. He was not able to achieve the given targets on time as a result of which he lost his job, after that he was appointed as a manager at Colaba guest house.

Abdul Karim Telgi wanted to travel to the middle east to earn money, he got to know that if he go to the middle east he can earn a lot of money. In 1986 he went to Saudi Arabia where he worked for a couple of years, he was struggling there also and then he realized that nothing is going to happen in Saudi Arabia, he left for Mumbai again. Abdul Karim Telgi was a person who was interested in quick money, rather than earning through hard work he was more interested in earning from shortcuts.

Telgi returned to Mumbai and started a company named Arabian Metro Travels where he started faking several government documents and official stamps to send manpower to Saudi Arabia. He continued this work for several years where he made a lot of money but once he was caught by the immigration officers and was put behind the bars. According to the immigration act, he was in jail for a few months.

In jail, he met a person named Ratan Soni who used to deal in a stock exchange. During this time, the idea of committing bigger scams began to take shape. Telgi was hired by Soni to sell adhesive stamps and non-judicial stamp papers on his behalf, in return for a commission. They both knew that for a scam like this they will have to take the help of politicians as well as government officials. So, they started growing their network at a very high speed. After making connections with the politicians and government officials they started making connections with the underworld too.

They got a license for stamp vending in 1994 so that they can start selling fake stamp papers. Afterward, Telgi and Soni created numerous forged stamp papers, and their business expanded. Telgi would mix genuine stamp papers with fake papers, and sell them for a massive profit. Abdul Karim Telgi used to visit auctions to buy junked machinery and also made some contacts with the people of Indian Security Press. He had the same instrument and technology which the Indian Security press had i.e. the stamp paper he used to print was the same as the Indian Security Press. It was very difficult to tell whether the stamp papers were real or not. Rather than the stamp paper fraud, he was also working on the Money Laundering Fraud.

Later due to some differences, there was a separation between Ratan Soni and Abdul Karim Telgi. He hired 350 agents and because of them, he started selling these fake stamp papers in the volume. In the following years, his business expanded into other cities and people joined him in selling fake stamps. The company even used some of these for registering insurance and property documents, and Telgi was declared an offender in the late 1990s when the company earned crores of rupees.

In the year 2000 Bengaluru police got a tip that two people are transporting fake stamp papers. On November 1, 2001, Telgi was arrested by police. Eventually, the CBI was assigned to the case. After a massive interrogation with Telgi, they got to know that it was a huge scam. In the year 2006, the court sentenced Telgi to imprisonment of 30 years. 

In October 2017, Telgi died from multiple organ failure at an Indian government hospital in Bangalore at the age of 56.


Last Updated : 22 Sep, 2023
Like Article
Save Article
Previous
Next
Share your thoughts in the comments
Similar Reads