Bengaluru: Abdul Karim Telgi, the mastermind of the multi-crore fake stamp paper racket, died at the Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru on Thursday.

Telgi, 57, who was convicted in four fake stamp paper cases and was sentenced to life in the Central Prison in Bengaluru, was moved to the Victoria Hospital 11 days ago. He had been in prison for 16 years.

Special medical officers of the hospital’s emergency and trauma care, unit had said that Telgi’s condition suffered multi-organ failure and did not show any improvement.

Telgi, a native of Khanapur in Belgaum district, was the kingpin of a racket that produced fake stamp papers and sold them to a number of private and government agencies, including banks and insurance firms. He entered the world of crime by counterfeiting passports and later took to manufacture of fake stamp papers. The multi-crore racket spread across the country with the involvement of several officers.

The racket was uncovered in 1999 when the Bengaluru police raided a property in Vasanth Nagar in Bengaluru. Telgi was captured in Maharashtra by the Bengaluru police.