Prosecutors in Taiwan have proposed heavy prison sentences for ACE Exchange founder David Pan and former executives as prime suspects in an alleged case. fraud and money laundering case. The development came after Taiwanese authorities launched a new round of charges against the founder of the exchange and several others.
ACE Exchange defendants face long prison sentence
On Friday, April 26, the Taipei District Prosecutor’s Office indicted 32 people involved in an alleged money laundering and fraud scheme. Those charged include Pan, his business partner Lin Keng-hong and lawyer Wang Chen-huan, who served as chairman of the exchange.
Prosecutors alleged that the defendants encouraged investments in various tokens, including NFTC tokens, Bitnature coins and MoChange – a token developed by Ace Exchange. Investigations revealed that the suspects wrote white papers and other documents to bolster the perceived legitimacy of these investments.
According to prosecutors, the suspects advertised these tokens in various media while artificially inflating their prices on their exchanges to attract investors. Investors, however, reported that they could not convert their tokens back into New Taiwan Dollars as promised, prompting them to file charges of alleged fraud.
A local news report revealed that losses amounted to around NT$800 million ($24.56 million), a significant increase from previous estimates of NT$340 million. These fraudulent activities resulted in substantial financial losses for more than 1,200 investors, prompting Taiwanese prosecutors to recommend prison sentences of at least 20 years for Pan and Lin.
Prosecutors said about NT$43 million was transferred to Wang, who then reinvested NT$26 million into the exchange to artificially increase token prices. Wang, a high-ranking law firm employee, faces at least 12 years in prison if convicted of helping with the scheme.
Ace Exchange Position and Response
Additionally, investigations show 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 cash in various locations, using some of the funds to purchase real estate in Yilan County.
In response to these allegations, Ace Exchange declared that Pan had not been involved in the daily operations of the platform since 2022, distancing himself from his alleged fault. The exchange also clarified that its operating conditions remained normal while being in full cooperation with the authorities.
The total cryptocurrency market capitalization at $2.306 trillion on the daily timeframe | Source: TOTAL chart on TradingView
Featured image from Mappr, chart from TradingView
Disclaimer: The article is provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold investments and, naturally, investing involves risks. You are advised to carry out your own research before making any investment decisions. Use the information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.
