Taiwan’s ACE Exchange president detained on fraud and money laundering charges
Taiwanese prosecutors have asked a Taipei court to detain ACE Exchange president Chenhuan Wang on charges of money laundering and fraud. The request comes after the prominent cryptocurrency platform’s founder, David Pan, was detained earlier this month over alleged fraud.
The Taipei District Prosecutors Office stated that Wang, who also leads the Chien Yeh law offices, was summoned along with four other suspects following police raids across Northern Taiwan.
After questioning, the prosecutors have sought court permission to detain Wang and restrict his visitation rights, along with those of the four other suspects.
The accusations against Pan and a co-conspirator, identified only as Lin, involve a three-year scheme where they reportedly used fake social media ads to attract investors to worthless cryptocurrencies, including MOCT. Prosecutors now allege that Wang was also involved in this scheme. A decision on his detention is expected later today.
ACE Exchange had earlier distanced itself from Pan, stating he ceased day-to-day involvement in the company in 2022. Wang, who took over as president in September 2023, claimed to have made efforts to delist controversial coins from the exchange.
Despite the legal turmoil, ACE Exchange assured its customers that its trading and operational activities remain unaffected. The company also confirmed the security of user assets and the smooth functioning of services for depositing and withdrawing cryptocurrencies and the New Taiwan Dollar.
Earlier this month, the Taipei City police detained Pan and 13 other individuals following investigations that uncovered illegal gains amounting to NT$200 million ($6.4 million).
The arrest included raids at multiple locations, including the ACE Exchange office. Authorities seized NT$111.52 million ($3.6 million) in cash from the residence of a co-conspirator surnamed Lin and cryptocurrencies worth over NT$100 million. The total value of the seized assets surpassed NT$200 million.
Pan and Lin are accused of engaging in fraudulent activities for three years, using social media to promote false adverts and lure investors into buying worthless cryptocurrencies, including MOCT.
ACE Exchange clarified in an official statement that any alleged illegal actions were related to the “token project side” and did not impact the exchange’s operations. ACE President Wang Chenhuan announced that the exchange would delist the MOCT/TWD trading pair and is ready to fully cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
A spokesperson for ACE Exchange indicated that the arrested suspects were not employees of ACE, and though Pan founded the company, he hasn’t been involved in daily operations since 2022. The exchange is currently cooperating with the police as a witness.
Founded in 2018, ACE Exchange is a key player in Taiwan’s cryptocurrency market, alongside MaiCoin and BitoGroup.
Earlier in November, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office (TDPO) detained Chang Tung-ying, the chief partner of JPEX Taiwan on charges of fraud related to the cryptocurrency exchange.
