Taiwan’s ACE Exchange founder among seven indicted in $10.7 million fraud case

Taiwanese prosecutors have indicted David Pan, founder of ACE Exchange, one of the major exchanges in Taiwan, along with six other suspects, on charges of money laundering and fraud involving assets worth at least $10.7 million.

The prosecutors stated on Monday that ACE allegedly established an offshore entity to offer what it called the “Alfred Wallet” services to entice investors to deposit their stablecoin in the so-called wallets. The suspects then allegedly transferred and laundered the assets.

The victims realized they had been scammed when they failed to withdraw assets from their wallets, according to the statement. The group allegedly defrauded at least 162 individuals, involving over NT$342 million ($10.7 million), the prosecutors stated.

In response to the charges against its founder, ACE Exchange said in a statement that Pan was a former executive and the wallet service involved in the case was not part of ACE and was solely developed by Pan and a third-party team he hired.

“Please rest assured. The trading and operational status of ACE Exchange is completely normal,” ACE said. “We guarantee the security of user assets. All services for depositing and withdrawing cryptocurrencies and New Taiwan dollars are operating smoothly.”

Troubled founder

Pan has also been detained for another fraud case he allegedly orchestrated. In January, Pan and a co-conspirator surnamed Lin were accused of collaborating for three years, using false advertisements on social media to entice investors into investing in certain cryptocurrencies.

When news of Pan’s arrest emerged in January, ACE clarified in a statement that Pan had ceased participation in daily operations in 2022.

Established in 2018, ACE is one of the largest crypto exchanges in Taiwan, alongside BitoGroup and MaiCoin. ACE said at the time that its management team adheres to the rules of law and “will not tolerate any misconduct by anyone.”