VOI World/ Desk
Amit Lakhanpal, the alleged mastermind of a ₹113 crore cryptocurrency fraud case, has been arrested in the UAE nearly eight years after Indian authorities began investigating the scheme.
Lakhanpal was arrested on September 1 on the basis of a Red Notice issued at the request of Thane Police. The Enforcement Directorate had shared information about his whereabouts with UAE authorities, following which Indian authorities initiated the process to seek his extradition.
The case relates to Money Trade Coin (MTC), an unrecognised cryptocurrency that Lakhanpal allegedly promoted between 2017 and 2018. The ED alleges that he posed as a Finance Ministry official at seminars in Delhi, Pune and Nashik and falsely claimed that MTC would receive government recognition. Investors were promised substantial returns.
According to the ED, the scheme resulted in losses of around ₹113.10 crore. Several related platforms and exchanges, including Coin Deposit Ratio, MTC Banque, MTCX India and Cryptozaniya, were allegedly launched as part of the operation. Investigators allege that MTC prices were manipulated and that trading and withdrawal facilities were eventually stopped, leaving investors unable to recover their money.
Lakhanpal and his associates allegedly fled India after obtaining passports from Antigua and Barbuda. The ED had said Lakhanpal was living in Dubai under a false identity. In August, the agency conducted searches in Mumbai and Thane and seized about ₹1 crore in cash, along with digital devices and documents linked to the alleged money-laundering network.
The arrest marks a major development in the long-running ₹113 crore crypto fraud case, with Indian authorities now pursuing Lakhanpal’s extradition from the UAE.
