Prosecutors in Taiwan have proposed lengthy prison sentences for ACE Exchange founder David Pan and former executives as prime suspects in an alleged fraud and money laundering case. This development came after Taiwanese authorities filed a new set of charges against the exchange’s founder and several others.
Defendants of ACE Exchange may face lengthy prison sentences
On Friday, April 26, the Taipei Public Prosecution Service indicted 32 people involved in an alleged money laundering and fraud scheme. Among those charged are Pan, his business partner Lin Keng-hong, and lawyer Wang Chen-huan, who was chairman of the exchange.
Prosecutors alleged that the defendants promoted investments in various tokens, including NFTC tokens, Bitnature coins, and MoChange – a token developed by Ace Exchange. To research revealed that the suspects had produced white papers and other documents to enhance the perceived legitimacy of these investments.
According to prosecutors, the suspects advertised these tokens through various media while artificially inflating their prices on their exchanges to lure investors. However, investors reported that they were unable to exchange their tokens back for new Taiwan dollars as promised, prompting them to file complaints about the alleged fraud.
a local news story announced that losses amounted to about 800 million New Taiwan dollars ($24.56 million), a significant increase from previous estimates of NT$340 million. These fraudulent activities resulted in significant financial losses for more than 1,200 investors, prompting Taiwanese prosecutors to impose prison sentences of at least 20 years for Pan and Lin.
Prosecutors said about NT$43 million was transferred to Wang, who then invested NT$26 million back into the exchange to artificially inflate token prices. Wang, a high-ranking law firm employee, faces a minimum of 12 years in prison if found guilty of aiding the scheme.
Ace Exchange’s attitude and response
Furthermore, research shows that Pan and his partners generated at least NT$2.2 billion in revenue from the sale of tokens and other blockchain products. Prosecutors also discovered that they planned to hide the money in various locations and use some of the money to purchase real estate in Yilan County.
In response to these allegations, Ace Exchange declared that Pan was no longer involved in the daily activities of the platform since 2022 and distanced himself from his alleged misconduct. The exchange also made it clear that operating conditions remained normal while fully cooperating with authorities.
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