An image of a man identified as Bharat Jain, a rich beggar in India, is extensively shared on social media, claiming that he was an alumnus of IIM Kolkata. The viral post also claims that he runs a racket with 18,000 beggars working for him. He has eight villas in Mumbai, 18 high-end apartments for rent and is also expanding his business in Malaysia and Indonesia.
A Facebook user shared this post and wrote: “The world’s richest beggar is in Mumbai. He is a BE; and to organise his begging empire, he did his MBA from IIM Kolkatta. He’s also a rank holder. A monthly income of ₹7 crore is tax-free. His name is Bharat Jain. Today he has 18,000 beggars working for him. He takes 20% off everyone’s daily collections in return for a good house in Dharavi and 3 times meals for begging subscribers. He has 8 villas in Mumbai, 18 high-end apartments for rent, 2 private independent bungalows for his use, 4 wives and a hotel. He was caught by the IT department while buying a ₹22-crore house. In a raid on both his houses, they found ₹460-crore cash. He has gone international opening begging syndicates in Malaysia and Indonesia. (Going Global). *IIM. Zindabad.”
It is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral post, and found it to be False.
Performing an open keyword search, the NM team spotted a Hindustan Times report, dated August 8, 2023, carrying similar image. The title of the report reads: “Meet Bharat Jain: World’s richest beggar with a net worth of ₹7.5 crore”. According to the report, his monthly earnings from begging range between ₹60,000 and 75,000. Although, it is high but not as much as claimed in the viral post.
Quoting the Economic Times report, the HT article mentions that due to financial instability, Jain was unable to pursue formal education. It suggests that the claim of Bharat graduated from IIM Kolkata is baseless.
According to the Financial Express report, dated July 09, 2023, he has a net worth of ₹7.5 crore ($1 million), owns a two-bedroom flat in Mumbai worth ₹1.2 crore and two shops in Thane that generate a monthly rental income of ₹30,000. The report has not mentioned anywhere that he is running a beggar racket with 18,000 beggars working for him, or expanding his business globally.
Therefore, we can conclusively say that the man in the viral image is, indeed, India’s richest beggar Bharat Jain. However, he is neither an alumnus of IIM Kolkata nor running a beggar racket or expanding his business to Malaysia and Indonesia.
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