Two co-founders of CoinDCX crypto exchange held on charges of fraud

The Thane police have arrested two co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange platform CoinDCX in connection with an alleged fraud of ₹71.6 lakh, 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, criminal breach of trust and fraud, they said.

A 42-year-old insurance advisor, the complainant in the case, alleged he was duped of ₹71.6 lakh between August 2025 and March this year after being lured by promises of high returns by investing in a firm, purportedly associated with the cryptocurrency platform. He was also offered a franchise opportunity, according to the police.

The complainant transferred ₹71,60,015 through cash and online transactions at different times. However, the invested amount was not returned, and instead the funds were allegedly misappropriated, they said.

A police team apprehended the two accused from Bengaluru on Saturday. They were later brought to Thane and produced on Sunday before a local court, which remanded them to police custody till Monday, senior police inspector Anil Shinde said.

“A detailed probe is underway to determine if there are more victims linked to this investment scheme,” the official added.

In a statement on March 21, CoinDCX claimed that the FIR filed against its co-founders was “false and filed as a conspiracy against CoinDCX by impersonators” who were cheating the public.

“We have taken cognizance of the fact and published a notice to public at large 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 which have no relation to CoinDCX,” stated the company.

“We remain fully committed to supporting authorities in addressing such misconduct. Between April 1, 2024 and January 5, 2026, we have reported over 1,212 fake websites impersonating http://coindcx.com,” it added.

This article was updated to include the company’s statement