Amit Lakhanpal, accused of defrauding investors of more than Rs 113 crore through the Money Trade Coin cryptocurrency scheme, has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates on the basis of a red notice issued at the request of Thane police, according to officials cited in the case. The Indian government has initiated extradition proceedings, while the Enforcement Directorate is investigating alleged money laundering linked to the case.
Lakhanpal was arrested in the UAE on September 1 after the ED shared information about his whereabouts with the authorities there, the report said. The government has asked the agencies concerned to provide details of the case as part of the extradition process.
Thane police are investigating Lakhanpal along with Taha Hafiz Qazi, Sachin Vasant Shelar, Komal Bhimrao Shirsath and others. The case relates to allegations that Lakhanpal launched MTC cryptocurrency during 2017-18 and persuaded investors to put money into it by claiming that the coin had government recognition.
According to allegations recorded by the ED, seminars were held in Delhi, Pune and Nashik, where Lakhanpal allegedly presented himself as a finance ministry official and promised substantial returns from investments in MTC coin. Investigators allege that the cryptocurrency was not recognised and that the accused induced numerous investors to invest, resulting in losses of about Rs 113 crore.
The ED has also alleged that several schemes and exchanges, including Coin Deposit Ratio, MTC Banque, MTCX India and Cryptozaniya, were later floated by Lakhanpal and his associates. The agency said MTC coin rates were manipulated and that trading and withdrawal facilities were stopped, leaving investors unable to recover their principal or promised returns.
Investigators have alleged that Lakhanpal and his associates left India after the police case was registered, acquiring passports from Antigua and Barbuda. The ED said Lakhanpal was living in Dubai under a false identity. His wife was intercepted at an airport on three occasions in 2023-24 while attempting to leave India, based on an alert issued by the ED and Thane police. She later left the country using an Antigua passport that, according to investigators, had been procured while Lakhanpal was abroad.
The case has also drawn attention to the alleged involvement of a senior police officer who was serving in Thane at the time and was said to have handled Lakhanpal’s office and clients. The report did not provide further details about the officer’s role or indicate whether any charges had been established against him.
The ED has previously searched premises linked to the accused and attached properties in connection with the investigation. In a recent operation across locations in the Mumbai-Thane region, the agency seized Rs 1 crore, it said. The extradition process and the agencies’ continuing investigations are the next formal steps in the case.
