Crypto
Ace Exchange Founders Face 20-Year Sentence in Fraud Case
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office of Taiwan’s cryptocurrency sector has indicted 32 people on fraud and money laundering charges. This cluster includes individuals like JackIssue founder David Pan and his associate, Lin Keng-hong, who is involved in Ace Exchange. The prosecutors are suggesting a 20-year jail term for the four principal suspects, a crucial milestone in this continuing court case.
Taipei Police Raid Ace Exchange, Arrest 15
The indictments outline a sophisticated fraud that left over 1,200 investors misled and losses currently estimated at almost 800 million New Taiwan dollars ($24.56 million). This amount is far above the original estimates, which were only 340 million NT$ ($10.6 million). One of the most important figures indicted is Wang Chen-huan, a well-known lawyer and the chairman of Ace Exchange, who would potentially face 12 years of imprisonment if found guilty. His participation as a legal consultant provided a sense of legitimacy to the false actions.
Taipei City Police apprehended David Pan and 14 others in January 2024 after a detailed investigation. The raid hit several places, including the principal office of Ace Exchange. The probes found connections with a fake crypto wallet service, known as “Alfred” or “Afu wallet,” and associated cryptocurrency cards.
Ace Exchange Denies Ties to Founder Pan
In 2019, the suspects actively promoted a number of token investments, among them NFTC tokens and bitnature coins, and issued devious white papers and promotional materials. They aimed to make Ace Exchange the top blockchain ecosystem for crypto trading in Asia. Nevertheless, the reality for investors was far more harrowing, as their tokens would lose value without being able to be converted back to fiat currency, despite the assurances given.
This financial incongruity resulted in many investors filing lawsuits, which has brought about the current charges. Seizing the defendant’s assets, the court has already acted, the value of which is at least 3.5 million NT$ ($110,000), thus providing a kind of compensation for the fake investors.
In response to the indictment, Ace Exchange declared on April 8 that David Pan is not associated with Trader’s Paradise, that he has not been related to the day-to-day operations since 2022, and that his accused fraudulent activities were not connected to the platform’s current operations. However, such a guarantee did not help restore Ace Exchange’s trust.
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