Key Highlights
- A Thane court granted bail to CoinDCX co-founders in the alleged Rs 71.6 lakh fraud case.
- The court said prima facie no case was made out against the two founders.
- Police said the investigation is still continuing against the remaining accused.
A court in Thane has granted bail to CoinDCX co-founders Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal in an alleged Rs 71.6 lakh cheating case, saying prima facie no case had been made out against them.
According to a report, the two were released on Tuesday after Magistrate Nilesh Rathod allowed their bail plea and directed them to furnish sureties of Rs 50,000 each. The order came days after both founders were arrested in Bengaluru in connection with an FIR filed at Mumbra police station.
Court cites lack of prima facie case
In granting relief, the court said the founders were entitled to bail, referring to the principle that bail is the rule and jail is the exception.
The magistrate also referred to Article 21 of the Constitution, which concerns the protection of life and personal liberty, while noting that no prima facie case appeared to be made out against the two accused at this stage.
Complainant affidavit reshapes proceedings
The case shifted after the complainant filed an affidavit in court stating that he had received the disputed amount from one of the other six accused named in the matter.
He also said he did not know Gupta or Khandelwal. The statement came after the founders had first been remanded to police custody and later sent to judicial custody. Their bail application was moved immediately after they were sent to jail and was heard on Tuesday.
Defense says founders were impersonated
Counsel for Gupta and Khandelwal argued that their clients had no role in the alleged fraud and were not the people the complainant had met.
According to the defense, the individuals who interacted with the complainant were impersonators posing as the CoinDCX founders. The lawyers also told the court that Gupta and Khandelwal were elsewhere at the time of the alleged meetings and were themselves victims of identity misuse.
Fraud allegations stem from March 16 FIR
The FIR was registered on March 16 at Mumbra police station against the two founders and four others on charges including cheating, criminal breach of trust, and fraud.
Police said the complainant, a 42-year-old insurance advisor from Mumbra, alleged that he was duped between August 2025 and March 2026 after being promised high returns through an investment scheme purportedly linked to the crypto platform. According to the complaint, he transferred Rs 71,60,015 through a mix of cash and online payments. The money was allegedly not returned and was instead misappropriated.
Police said the investigation remains ongoing despite the complainant’s affidavit, and efforts are continuing to trace and arrest the remaining four accused. This means the case itself has not been closed, even though the court has granted bail to the CoinDCX founders.
CoinDCX says founders were targeted by impersonators
CoinDCX has denied any wrongdoing and said the complaint against its co-founders was based on impersonation.
In a statement issued earlier, the company said the FIR was false and described it as part of a conspiracy involving fraudsters posing as CoinDCX founders to cheat members of the public. It also said the alleged transfers were made to third-party accounts with no connection to the exchange.
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