A magistrate court in Thane has granted bail to CoinDCX co-founders Sumit Surendra Gupta and Niraj Ashok Khandelwal, stating that no prima facie case was established against them in a ₹71 lakh ($75,000) cheating complaint involving a fake platform impersonating the crypto exchange.
In its March 23 order, the court said the founders were entitled to bail as the available evidence did not support any case against them, even at a preliminary level. They had been detained for questioning over the weekend following allegations that they had defrauded an investor.
The magistrate noted that the investigating officer had “no objection” to their release and confirmed that the accused were not in Mumbra at the time of the alleged offence. The court also observed that “some other person,” posing as the accused, had carried out the fraud—something the complainant acknowledged during proceedings.
CoinDCX points to impersonation fraud
In a March 24 statement on X, CoinDCX said the court’s findings support its claim that the incident involved third-party impersonation. The company added that the scam was carried out through a lookalike website, coindcx.pro, which it emphasized has no affiliation with the official platform.
The judge noted that the complainant submitted an affidavit stating that another आरोपी, identified as Rana, had repaid the defrauded amount and clarified that the applicants were not the individuals he met at a café in Kausa Mumbra where the fraudulent transaction took place.
With the dispute “amicably settled” between the complainant and the primary accused, the court observed that there was no risk of the founders interfering with evidence or influencing witnesses.
The court ordered their release on bail upon furnishing a bond of ₹50,000 (around $530) each, with conditions requiring them to cooperate with the ongoing investigation and trial.
CoinDCX described the incident as part of a growing wave of impersonation and phishing scams targeting prominent brands in India’s financial and crypto sectors. The company urged users to verify website domains carefully and interact only through its official platform and social media channels.
