Authorities in Taiwan reportedly arrested David Pan, the founder of the Ace Exchange, for allegedly committing fraud using cryptocurrencies. 

According to a Jan. 4 report from the Liberty Times, the Taipei City police arrested Pan and 14 others following raids on several locations, including Ace’s headquarters. The authorities reportedly alleged the individuals earned roughly 200 million Taiwanese dollars — $6.4 million at the time of publication — in illegal gains by deceiving investors with false crypto claims.

In a Jan. 4 statement on X (formerly Twitter), Ace said any alleged illegal actions were on the “token project side” and did not affect the exchange’s operations. Ace President Wang Chenhuan said the exchange planned to delist the MOCT/TWD trading pair on Jan. 8 — MOCT was one of the tokens at issue in the alleged fraud — and would “fully cooperate” with any investigation.

“[S]ome currencies listed in 2019 were involved in illegal activities,” said Wang. “Basically, ACE is cooperating with the investigation as a witness. Some media reported that our employees were involved in the case, which is not true.”

各位可能有看到新聞了。 ACE 在這邊澄清該行為是代幣項目方行為，跟交易所營運沒關聯。目前營運都正常，如有遇到提幣問題 可以透過我們官方渠道詢問

【ACE王牌法幣加密貨幣交易所聲明稿】 https://t.co/VnoekKpWL2

— ACE Exchange (@ACE_exchange) January 4, 2024

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Of the funds seized, Taiwanese police confiscated roughly $3.5 million in crypto. Pan and the other individuals reportedly refused to cooperate and are being held on suspicion of fraud.

Along with MaiCoin and BitoGroup, Ace is one of Taiwan’s major crypto trading platforms. Founded in 2018, the firm is a member of industry associations amid a changing regulatory environment in the country.

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