ACE Exchange Executives Charged in $24.5M Fraud Case

Four main suspects are looking at at least 20-year prison terms. This is the case of the ACE Exchange cryptocurrency trading platform. Taiwan prosecutors have been charged with fraud and money laundering.

ACE Exchange Executives Charged in $24.5M Crypto Fraud Case

According to local media, 32 individuals, including ACE Exchange chairman Wang Chen-huan, Lin Keng-hong, ACE Exchange co-founder, and David Pan, founder, have been charged by the Taipei District Prosecutor’s Office with charges of fraud and money laundering.

Upon further investigation, prosecutors have determined that over 1,200 victims were swindled off about 800 million New Taiwan dollars (US$24.56 million). A previous calculation had placed the loss at NT340 million ($10.6 million), so this is a hike.

The study argues that the recommendation of the penalty is substantiated by the higher magnitude of the losses. People-versus-Wang prosecutors also proposed a minimum of twelve years for Wang, considering his professional role as a director of a major law firm and his supposed critical involvement in the conspiracy.

Having raided several places, among them Ace headquarters, the Taipei City police arrested Pan and fourteen others involved in the case in January 2024. The investigations ascertained that Pan was connected to a fraudulent cryptocurrency wallet service dubbed “Alfred” or “Afu wallet” and a token card linked to the service.

In 2019, the prosecution asserts that defendants used promotional materials and white papers to enhance their public image while touting investments in different tokens such as NFTC tokens, bitnature coins, mochange (ACE Exchange token), and others.

Crypto Platform Under Legal Scrutiny for Fraud

When promoting ACE Exchange, Pan and Lin aimed to make it the largest blockchain environment for trading cryptocurrencies in Asia. The tokens for most of the holders dropped sharply. The complaint that took place following the failure to receive the new Taiwan dollars as promised led to a legal investigation.

The defendant is said to have had assets worth over 3.5 million New Taiwan dollars, or $110,000, confiscated early this year after a court in Taiwan ordered its seizure.

Ace Exchange released a statement regarding the indictment on April 8, in which it was once again repeated that Pan is unrelated to the platform and his fraudulent activities are irrelevant since he allegedly ceased to be a part of daily operations in 2022.

Among the not-so-well-known centralized cryptocurrency exchanges is Ace Exchange, situated in Taiwan. Launched in late 2018, the platform trades about $14 million daily, as per CoinMarketCap data. According to Traders Union, Ace Exchange is a “high-risk cryptocurrency exchange” with a trust score of 2.78 out of 10.