Ahmedabad: A Himmatnagar-based professor has filed a complaint alleging that a data-storage company operating from Gandhinagar’s Infocity and GIFT City cheated him and 41 other investors of more than Rs 8.6 crore through a “sell and lease back” investment scheme that promised assured monthly returns.Dabhoda police registered an FIR against the founder-director and five other directors and a zonal manager of the company. The complainant alleged that the accused persuaded investors to purchase digital storage space and assured them that the company would lease it back for seven years in return for fixed monthly rental income.According to the complaint, the professor was introduced to the scheme by a chartered accountant in March 2025 and later visited the company’s office at the World Trade Centre complex in GIFT City. The company allegedly offered investors one terabyte of digital storage space for Rs 38,940 for a seven-year period and promised monthly returns exceeding Rs 1,650.To attract investors, the accused allegedly claimed they were establishing a major data centre in GIFT City that would store a substantial portion of the world’s digital data in India. They also purportedly said the company had agreements with foreign firms.The complainant alleged that the company executed digital agreements with investors and issued invoices showing GST and tax deductions to make the transactions appear genuine. Trusting these assurances, he invested Rs 95.4 lakh in the names of himself, his wife and his daughter to purchase 245 terabytes of storage space.While the company allegedly paid rent for the initial months, payments stopped after Feb 2026. When investors visited the GIFT City office to seek clarification, they reportedly found it locked. The accused subsequently became unreachable and stopped responding to phone calls, the complaint stated.The complaint includes 41 investors and witnesses from across the country, including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Raipur, Bhilai, Tripura, and Jammu and Kashmir. Their combined claims amount to more than Rs 8.6 crore.The complainant further alleged that funds collected through the company were diverted to sister concerns.Police have booked the six directors and the zonal manager and initiated an investigation into the alleged fraud.
