Founder of Taiwan’s Ace Exchange Indicted in $10.7M Fraud Case

Taiwanese prosecutors have taken legal action against David Pan, the founder of Ace Exchange, a local cryptocurrency trading platform. Pan, along with six other suspects, was indicted on April 8 on charges of money laundering and fraud. The alleged fraudulent activities led to losses of 340 million New Taiwan dollars ($10.6 million). In January 2024, Pan and 14 others were arrested by the Taipei City police in connection with the case. The arrests followed raids on various locations, including Ace’s headquarters.

The investigation revealed that Pan was linked to a fraudulent cryptocurrency wallet service known as “Alfred” or “Afu wallet,” as well as a related crypto card. Prosecutors stated that this group defrauded customers by operating a classic high-reward scheme through offline over-the-counter exchanges and fake investment groups. Investors who deposited funds were unable to withdraw them or discovered that their accounts had been blocked.

A Taiwanese court has ordered the seizure of the defendants’ assets, with some confiscated assets valued at least 3.5 million TWD ($110,000). In response to the indictment, Ace Exchange released a statement emphasizing that Pan’s fraudulent activities were not connected to the platform. The company claimed that Pan had ceased to be involved in day-to-day operations in 2022 and that the wallet product associated with the fraud was developed by a third-party team, not by Ace Exchange itself. The exchange assured users that their assets were secure and that all cryptocurrency and New Taiwan dollar deposit and withdrawal services were functioning normally.

Ace Exchange is a relatively unknown centralized crypto exchange based in Taiwan. CoinMarketCap data shows that the platform was launched in late 2018 and has a daily trading volume of around $14 million. According to Traders Union, it is considered a “high-risk cryptocurrency exchange” with a trust score of 2.78 out of 10. reached out to Ace Exchange for comment on the indictment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.