Scam 2003 – The Telgi Story was released on September 1. Hansal Mehta, the creator of the blockbuster web series Scam 1992, is the creative director of the second instalment of the Scam franchise. Based on Sanjay Singh’s Telgi Scam: Reporter’s ki Diary, the web series will stream on SonyLIV. Let’s find out who Abdul Karim Telgi, whom the story is based on, was.
Telgi, a name that reverberates with notoriety in India, was a mastermind behind one of the country’s most infamous counterfeiting scandals. Born in 1961, Telgi’s life was a blend of ambition, ingenuity and criminality, culminating in a counterfeit empire that shook the nation’s financial institutions.
Humble beginnings
Telgi’s early life was marked by hardship. His father, an Indian Railways employee, passed away when Telgi was young. To fund his education in school, he sold fruits and vegetables on trains. Eventually, Telgi moved to Saudi Arabia, only to return seven years later with a new career path in mind—counterfeiting.
The counterfeit empire
Initially, Telgi focused on forging passports. He even started a business, Arabian Metro Travels, to facilitate the export of manpower to Saudi Arabia. His company produced fake documents that allowed labourers to bypass immigration checks, a practice known as “pushing” in the industry.
However, Telgi soon shifted gears to a more lucrative venture—counterfeit stamp paper. He recruited 300 agents to sell these fakes to bulk purchasers like banks, insurance companies, and stock brokerage firms. The scale of this operation was staggering, estimated to be around ₹30,000 crore.
The law catches up
The scandal was so extensive that it implicated several police officers and government employees. Telgi was eventually sentenced to 30 years of rigorous imprisonment in 2006. In 2007, he received an additional 13-year sentence. He was also asked to pay a fine of ₹202 crore.
Personal life and demise
Telgi was known for his extravagant lifestyle, including frequent visits to dance bars. He was even said to be in love with a bar dancer, Tarannumn Khan. As per reports, he lavished a dancer with ₹90 lakh in a single evening at the bar.
His life came to an abrupt end in 2017 due to meningitis, compounded by long-standing health issues like diabetes and hypertension.
In the end, Abdul Karim Telgi was a complex figure—a man of humble beginnings who rose to build an empire, albeit one that stood on shaky moral ground.
