A lawyer, who invested in the company, is now trying to mobilise others to file a joint case against the company. On Sunday, advocate M L Bhendre will hold a meeting with other aggrieved investors. The Nigdi police station has registered a case of fraud under Sections 420 and 406 of the IPC against I-link, which is said to have branches in Vashi, Nagpur, Kolhapur and Hyderabad besides Pune.

The swindle is similar to one carried out by Unique Fin Corp, which had disappeared with the deposits of nearly 1,750 people. In both cases, investors were promised attractive financial returns or ownership of a car in exchange for an initial payment.

“I-link floated two schemes — one offering investors a car at the end of five years and the other promising good returns every month,” said Bhendre.

“Till February, they were making prompt payments. In March, they sent investors a letter asking them not to deposit any cheques for the month. Most letters cited income tax problems as the reason. Investors in Vashi, however, were informed that the company was shifting to Dadar; hence they did not deposit their cheques,” Bendre said.

Since March, the investors have not received money from the company or heard from them. Some of the post-dated cheques issued by the company bounced; no I-link executive could be contacted at any of their branches in person or on phone, Bendre said. He estimated that the scam runs to the tune of Rs 25 crore.

On Monday, Nana Kshirsagar, president of Maharashtra Call Centre Drivers and Owners Association (MCCDOA) faulted the police for not immediately investigating the case. On Friday, MCCDOA led a morcha to the police commissionerate to urge the police to take action. “Nearly 400 depositors in the city will lose out unless the police takes action,” Kshirsagar said.