Mumbai: The special Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act has granted bail to a 36-year-old Kartik Kamal Sharma, who was arrested in connection with an alleged crypto investment fraud case registered at Samta Nagar Police Station.
Sharma, the proprietor of Tecroot3 Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd., was accused of of luring investors to put money into cryptocurrency schemes by promising lucrative returns and that a case was registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 3 and 4 of the MPID Act, alleged that investors were cheated of lakhs of rupees.
Complainant Alleged Loss of Over ₹93 Lakh
According to the prosecution, the complainant, Ashish Narula, invested Rs 93 lakh in the scheme, out of which he received Rs 46.10 lakh as returns before the payments stopped. Narula’s family and seven to eight others also invested about Rs 95 lakh, but many did not receive full repayment.
Defence Argued No Fraudulent Intent, Investors Received Returns Initially
Adv Ganesh Nagargoje appearing on behalf of accused, while arguing on the bail application referred to statements of complainant and other witnesses, which said that that all these investors had received benefit until 28.04.2025.
“Some of them have received total return benefit which is half of the amount of investment. Considering last return benefit received to each of investor and quantum of total return benefit, no fraudulent intention since inception on the part of applicant. Hence prima facie Section 318(4) and section 3 of MPID Act would attract against the applicant. All the investors had invested money on assurance to receive return benefit on investment. Thus there was no entrustment of the property. Hence Section 316(2) of BNS would not attract against the applicant,” the order copy reads.
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Court Notes Lack of Prima Facie Fraud, Cites Completion of Charge Sheet
The court, presided over by Additional Sessions Judge N.G. Shukla, noted that most investors had received substantial monthly returns until April 2025 and observed that there was no prima facie evidence of fraudulent intent from the beginning. Since the charge sheet had already been filed, the court held that further custody was not necessary.
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