'No case made out': Thane court grants bail to CoinDCX co-founders held for cheating

Thane: A court in Thane district on Tuesday granted bail to two co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange platform CoinDCX, Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, arrested in an alleged Rs 71.60 lakh cheating case, holding that prima facie no case was made out against them.

Magistrate Nilesh Rathod, while hearing their bail plea, ordered the duo's release upon furnishing a surety of Rs 50,000 each.

The co-founders, against whom the alleged cheating case was registered at the Mumbra police station in Thane district, were arrested from Bengaluru last Saturday (March 21). Following their arrest, they were initially remanded to police custody until Monday by a local court.

They were subsequently sent to judicial custody after the complainant filed an affidavit in the court stating he had received the disputed amount from one of the six accused in the case. The complainant further stated that he does not know the two arrested co-founders.

Immediately after being sent to jail, Gupta and Khandelwal moved a bail application which was heard by the court on Tuesday.

Appearing for the duo, advocates Abhijeet Sawant, Pranav Badheka, and Rajan Salunke argued that their clients had no role in the alleged crime.

The defence submitted that the individuals the complainant actually met were not the co-founders, but persons merely purporting to be Gupta and Khandelwal.

The lawyers stated that the CoinDCX co-founders were elsewhere at the time of the alleged meetings and claimed their clients were themselves victims of identity misuse.

After hearing prosecution and defence sides, the court observed that prima facie, no case was made out against the duo and cited the legal principle of "bail is the rule, jail is the exception" while providing relief to them.

While granting bail, the court directed both Gupta and Khandelwal to cooperate in the investigation and trial of the case.

"Considering the object Article 21 of the Constitution of India (related to protection of life and personal liberty) and the law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court that is "bail is rule and exception is jail", I hold that applicants/accused are entitled for bail as prima facie no case was made out against them," the magistrate said.

The police said on Monday the probe remains ongoing despite the complainant's affidavit and all efforts were on to nab four other accused.

The arrests were made following an FIR registered on March 16 at the Mumbra police station against Gupta, Khandelwal and four others on charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust and fraud, according to officials.

The complainant, a 42-year-old insurance advisor from Mumbra, had claimed he was duped of Rs 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.

The complainant transferred Rs 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, as per police.

The company, however, in a statement on Monday, claimed, "The FIR filed against our co-founders is false, and filed as a conspiracy against CoinDCX by impersonators posing as Founders of CoinDCX and cheating the public at large." "We have taken cognisance 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," it added.