Abdul Karim Telgi

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Abdul Karim Telgi (born 1961) is a convicted forger from India.

Born to an employee of Indian Railways in 1961, Telgi was left to fend for himself at an early age after his father's death. He paid for his own education at Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, an English medium school, by selling fruit and vegetables on trains.^[1] He completed his B.Com from a Belgaum college. After this, he moved to Saudi Arabia. Seven years later, he returned to India and began to work as a travel agent.

Telgi was arrested in 1991 by Mumbai police for fraud. During his subsequent prison sentence, he reportedly learned the art of forgery from an expert. He was released and, in 1994, acquired a stamp paper licence from the Government of India.

He began printing fake stamp paper. He appointed 300 people as agents who sold the fakes to bulk purchasers, including banks, FIs, insurance companies, and share-broking firms. His monthly profits have been estimated as being in the neighbourhood of Rs 100 crore (US $20 million).

The Telgi case brought corruption in the Karnataka police force to light, causing a national scandal in India.^[2] A videotape emerged in September 2006 of Abdul Karim Telgi taking a Narco Analysis test. Under the influence of the supposed truth serum, Telgi is said to have blurted out the names of Nationalist Congress Party leaders Sharad Pawar and Chaggan Bhujbal. Pawar has never been publicly linked to the case, but was forced to go public with a denial.

On 17 January 2006, Telgi and several associates were sentenced to ten years' rigorous imprisonment.^[3]

[edit] References

1. ^ "Telgi is so Indian", The Hindu, 30 November 2003.
2. ^ "Telgi is so Indian", The Hindu, 30 November 2003.
3. ^ "10-yr RI for Telgi in stamp paper scam", Indian Express, 18 January 2006.