A police team nabbed two accused from Bengaluru on Saturday (File) | Photo credit: REUTERS
Thane police have arrested two co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange platform CoinDCX in connection with an alleged ₹71.6 lakh fraud, officials said on Monday.
The action follows an FIR registered on March 16 at the Mumbra police station in Thane against CoinDCX co-founders Sumit Gupta, Neeraj Khandelwal and others on charges of cheating, breach of trust and fraud, they said.
A 42-year-old insurance consultant, the complainant in the case, alleged that he was defrauded of ₹71.6 crore between August 2025 and March this year after being lured by promises of high returns by investing in a firm allegedly linked to a cryptocurrency platform. He was also offered a franchise option, according to police.
The complainant transferred ₹ 71,60,015 through cash and online transactions at various times. However, the amount invested was not returned and instead the funds were allegedly embezzled.
A police team arrested the two accused from Bengaluru on Saturday. They were later taken to Thane and produced before a local court on Sunday, which remanded them in police custody till Monday, said Senior Superintendent of Police Anil Shinde.
“A detailed investigation is underway to find out if there are more victims linked to this investment scheme,” the official added.
In a March 21 statement, CoinDCX claimed that the FIR filed against its co-founders was “false and was filed as a conspiracy against CoinDCX by impersonators” who were defrauding the public.
“We have taken note of this fact and posted a notice to the general public on our website that CoinDCX is being targeted by fraudsters. The entire conspiracy falsely claims that funds were transferred in cash to third-party accounts that have no relationship with CoinDCX,” the company said.
“We remain fully committed to supporting the authorities in tackling such misconduct. Between April 1, 2024 and January 5, 2026, we reported more than 1,212 fake websites impersonating him.”
This article has been updated to include a statement from the company
Published – 23 March 2026 09:57 IST
