CoinDCX founders arrested in India on crypto fraud charges

Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX’s co-founders, Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, were arrested by police in Bengaluru after being named in a First Information Report (FIR) tied to an alleged ₹71 lakh (around $85,000) crypto investment fraud case registered in Mumbra, Thane. The complainant, a 42‑year‑old insurance advisor, said he was lured into a scheme promising 10–12% monthly returns and a franchise opportunity, and claimed the scheme used CoinDCX branding, documents, and the names of senior executives to gain his trust. Based on this FIR, police charged the founders with cheating, fraud, and criminal breach of trust and took them into custody for around 72 hours of interrogation. CoinDCX has consistently rejected any involvement, stating that the platform used in the fraud was not owned or operated by the exchange and that this was a large-scale brand impersonation scam, with the company citing over 1,200 fake websites mimicking its platform. During the investigation, the complainant later filed an affidavit saying he had recovered his funds from another accused individual and no longer had grievances against Gupta and Khandelwal, and also confirmed he never interacted with them directly. A Thane magistrate subsequently granted the founders bail on a personal bond, noting there was no prima facie evidence tying them to the fraudulent operations and that they were not present where the alleged transactions occurred, though the broader investigation into the impersonators and associated networks is ongoing. The case highlights both the reputational risks for major exchanges like CoinDCX and the growing sophistication of impersonation scams targeting retail investors using cloned websites and misused executive identities. "entities":["CoinDCX","Sumit Gupta","Neeraj Khandelwal","Thane Police","Mumbra Police Station","Financefeeds","CCN","Coinpedia","Thane court","Magistrate Nile Rathod"]}'}'}

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