The Jalgaon housing scam, sometimes called the Jalgaon Gharkul scam (Marathi: जळगाव घरकुल घोटाळा), was the illicit diverting of approximately ₹110 crore (US$13 million) in loaned public municipal funds by the Jalgaon Municipal Corporation, in the city of Jalgaon in Maharashtra, India, approximately between 1997 and 2006. The funds were earmarked for a 1996-initiated project for the building of over 11,000 units of subsidized housing to benefit the area's rural poor population, and to reduce the prevalence of slums.[1] The incident is considered the largest known scam in the history of North Maharashtra.[2][3]
The scam was discovered and exposed by then Municipal commissioner of Jalgaon, Pravin Gedam, who filed a police complaint against Khandesh Builders with respect to the irregularities he saw after that company was awarded the housing contract.[4][5] The main accused in the case were Shivsena minister, Suresh Jain, and Legislative Assembly member, Gulabrao Devkar.[6][7] Following a seven-year investigation by Jalgaon police, Jain and 47 other participants in the fraud were convicted of a variety of criminal charges in 2019.[8]
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