Prosecutors in Taiwan are taking legal action against David Pan, the founder of Ace Exchange, a local cryptocurrency trading platform. On April 8, Pan was indicted, along with six other suspects, on charges of money laundering and fraud, resulting in losses of 340 million New Taiwan dollars ($10.6 million).
In January 2024, the Taipei City police arrested Pan and 14 others who were allegedly involved in the case. The arrests followed raids on various locations, including Ace’s headquarters.
During the investigation, prosecutors discovered that Pan was connected to a fraudulent cryptocurrency wallet service called “Alfred” or “Afu wallet,” as well as a related crypto card. The individuals involved in the scam deceived customers by offering a high-reward promise model through offline over-the-counter exchanges and fake investment groups. Once investors deposited their funds, they were unable to withdraw them or found their accounts blocked.
A Taiwanese court has ordered the seizure of the defendant’s property, including assets worth at least 3.5 million NT$ ($110,000) that have been confiscated.
In response to the indictment, Ace Exchange released a statement on April 8, emphasizing that Pan’s fraudulent activities had no connection to the platform. The company stated that Pan had stopped being involved in day-to-day operations in 2022 and that the wallet product was developed by a third-party team entrusted by him, not by Ace Exchange. The exchange assured that it is cooperating with local authorities.
Ace Exchange is a relatively unknown centralized cryptocurrency exchange based in Taiwan. According to CoinMarketCap data, the platform was launched in late 2018 and has a daily trading volume of around $14 million.
Traders Union data categorizes Ace Exchange as a “high-risk cryptocurrency exchange” with a trust score of 2.78 out of 10.
Cointelegraph reached out to Ace Exchange for comment on the indictment details but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
In other news, Google has filed a lawsuit against crypto app scammers, and Crypto.com is facing legal action in Korea, as reported by Asia Express magazine.