Amit Madanlal Lakhanpal, the principal accused in the Money Trade Coin (MTC) cryptocurrency fraud case, was detained in the United Arab Emirates on September 1, 2026, under an Interpol Red Notice sought by Thane City Police in Maharashtra. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), India’s federal financial-crime agency, had shared his location with foreign authorities before the detention. India has started extradition proceedings and asked investigating agencies to prepare supporting case papers. The arrest was first reported by Indian newspapers on the night of September 9, eight days later. The ED’s money-laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, stems from a Thane Police First Information Report naming Lakhanpal, Taha Hafiz Qazi, Sachin Vasant Shelar, Komal Bhimrao Shirsath and others. The ED alleges investors were cheated of about ₹113.10 crore between August 2017 and April 2018 through an unrecognised cryptocurrency and related platforms. Lakhanpal has not been convicted and remains entitled to challenge extradition under UAE law and the India-UAE extradition treaty, signed in 1999 and effective from 2000. The investigation began after the February 5, 2018 broadcast of an undercover television series, Operation Bitcoin, which was followed by a June 4 raid on Flintstone Group offices in Thane. Police arrested Qazi and seized 53 laptops and documents. Early police estimates put losses between ₹300 crore and ₹500 crore and the investor count between 2,500 and 25,000, but the ED’s current working figure is ₹113.10 crore. Investigators allege that MTC was promoted as a redeemable digital coin, with launch events in Dubai in September 2017 and Mumbai on October 18, 2017. They say the token was offered at about $3 and later quoted as high as $6,000, while roughly 105 million coins were launched and additional coins were mined. The ED alleges Lakhanpal held investor seminars, falsely presented himself as a Finance Ministry official, promised government recognition for MTC, and used affiliated platforms to manipulate prices before stopping withdrawals and trading. Authorities say MTC was never listed on a recognised exchange and collections lacked government or Reserve Bank of India approval. An Interpol Silver Notice (an asset-information request) was disclosed by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation in May 2026, while the Red Notice supported the September arrest. ED searches in Mumbai and Thane on August 12, 2026 yielded about ₹1 crore, or approximately $105,000, in cash, along with documents and digital devices. A Red Notice is not a conviction or extradition order; UAE courts will decide whether Lakhanpal is surrendered. The ED had not issued a statement specifically about the UAE arrest by the morning of September 10, 2026. Recovery remains separate from custody, with investigators still examining assets in Dubai, Antigua and India.