Taiwan’s Ace Exchange founder indicted in $10.6M fraud case

A Taiwanese court has ruled that the property of Ace Exchange founder David Pan and others involved in the case will be confiscated.

Prosecutors in Taiwan are taking action against David Pan, the founder of Ace Exchange, a local cryptocurrency trading platform.

According to an official statement by prosecutors, Pan was indicted alongside six other suspects on April 8. Prosecutors charged him with money laundering and fraud, which led to losses of 340 million New Taiwan dollars ($10.6 million).

The Taipei City police previously arrested Pan and 14 others allegedly involved in the case in January 2024 following raids on several locations, including Ace’s headquarters.

The prosecution found that Pan was one of the persons affiliated with the fraudulent cryptocurrency wallet service referred to as “Alfred” or “Afu wallet” and a related crypto card.

According to prosecutors, the persons defrauded customers by offering a service based on a classic high-reward promise model through offline over-the-counter exchange and fake investment groups.

After depositing funds, the defrauded investors could not withdraw their funds or found their accounts blocked.

A Taiwanese court reportedly ruled that the defendant’s property should be seized, with some confiscated assets amounting to at least 3.5 million NT$, or $110,000.

In response to the indictment, Ace Exchange published a statement on April 8, reiterating that Pan and his fraudulent activity had nothing to do with the platform, as he reportedly ceased to be involved in day-to-day operations in 2022.

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“The wallet product was developed by a third-party team entrusted by the former director Pan and is not a product or service launched by Ace Exchange,” the firm emphasized. It added that Ace was cooperating with local authorities.

The exchange stated the following:

“Please rest assured that the trading and operating conditions of Ace Exchange are normal. We ensure the security of user assets, and deposit and withdrawal services for all cryptocurrencies and New Taiwan dollars operate smoothly.”

Ace Exchange is a lesser-known centralized crypto exchange based in Taiwan. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the platform was launched in late 2018 and trades around $14 million per day.

According to data from Traders Union, Ace Exchange should be considered a “high-risk cryptocurrency exchange” with a trust score of 2.78 out of 10.

Cointelegraph approached Ace Exchange for a comment regarding the indictment details but did not receive a response at the time of publication.