CoinDCX Co-Founders Arrested in India Fraud Probe

Thane police in India arrested the co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX, Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, over the weekend in connection with an alleged fraud involving more than 71.6 lakh rupees, or about $85,000. The duo was detained in Bengaluru on Saturday and brought to Thane, where a local court remanded them to police custody until March 23 as investigators probe claims of cheating and criminal breach of trust.

The case stems from a First Information Report filed on March 16 at the Mumbra police station in Thane by a 42-year-old insurance advisor from the area. According to police, the complainant was approached between August 2025 and February 2026 with promises of high returns on cryptocurrency investments and opportunities to secure a franchise linked to CoinDCX. He transferred the funds through a combination of cash payments and online transactions to accounts controlled by the accused, but received neither the promised returns nor the franchise rights. Authorities invoked sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to financial fraud, naming Gupta, Khandelwal, and four other individuals in the FIR. Senior police inspector Anil Shinde stated that a...