Taiwanese prosecutors have charged the founder of a large local exchange, ACE Exchange, with money laundering through cryptocurrencies and fraud. The losses of affected customers are estimated at NT$342 million ($10.7 million).

Taiwanese law enforcement officials claim that ACE Exchange created an offshore organization so that clients could use the Alfred Wallet service. Investors were asked to deposit stablecoins into this wallet, after which David Pan and six other suspects would withdraw crypto assets. The police received complaints from 162 people who were unable to withdraw their own assets from this wallet.

In response to the allegations, the current management of ACE Exchange stated that David Pan is no longer the head of the exchange, and the Alfred Walle wallet is not associated with the company. Alfred Wallet was developed by Pan and third-party developers without the participation of ACE Exchange. The exchange also tried to reassure users that the criminal case will not affect the operation of the site:

“ACE Exchange is operating without interruption, and trading operations are carried out as usual. We guarantee the safety of user assets. Deposits and withdrawals in cryptocurrencies and New Taiwan Dollars work smoothly.”

In January, David Pan was arrested in another fraud case. Law enforcement officers accused him of posting advertisements on social networks in order to encourage people to invest in MOCT tokens. After information about the arrest, ACE Exchange immediately clarified that the top manager stopped working for the company back in 2022.

As prosecutors investigate the site for wrongdoing, ACE Exchange has been expelled from the local Crypto Industry Association, established in March with the approval of Taiwan's Ministry of Internal Affairs.