A prominent lawyer and several other suspects have been detained over alleged fraud and money laundering in connection with unlawful profiteering schemes involving cryptocurrency trading platform ACE Exchange.
Prosecutors yesterday questioned attorney Wang Chen-huan (王晨桓), chairman of ACE Exchange and senior partner of Taipei legal firm Chien Yeh Law Offices, who was denied bail and placed in pretrial detention.
Taipei prosecutors estimated the case affected more than 600 people investing in NFTC tokens, bitnature coins and mochange, a token introduced by ACE Exchange.
Photo copied by Hsu Sheng-lun, Taipei Times
Launched by David Pan (潘奕彰) and his business partner, Lin Keng-hong (林耿宏), ACE Exchange has become among Taiwan’s leading cryptocurrency trading platforms registered under Taipei-based ACE Digital Innovations Co.
Pan and Lin ran ads for cryptocurrency investment schemes on social media starting in 2020, to gain the confidence of local investors.
In their promotional talks, the duo talked of building ACE Exchange into Asia’s most complete blockchain ecosystem for cryptocurrency trading, but Taipei prosecutors said that many investors saw the value of their tokens go into a tailspin.
The investors said they could not convert them back to New Taiwan dollars as promised and filed complaints to seek a judicial investigation, believing they had been duped.
Pan and Lin, along with five ACE Exchange employees were questioned and detained by prosecutors last month.
It is estimated the duo reaped illegal revenue of more than NT$1 billion (US$31.9 million) over the past three years, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said.
In the second round of searches this week, Wang, ACE Exchange employee Kao Wei-lun (高偉倫), and Lin’s girlfriend, Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬), were detained on suspicion of assisting in operating the fraudulent scheme and also money laundering.
Investigators seized NT$47 million of cash at Wang’s home, as well as cash and cryptocurrency tokens valued at NT$180 million from the three suspects.
BLACKROCK SCAM
In a separate case, authorities in Taichung conducted raids and detained about 60 people in an investigation into a fraud ring operated by three men, surnamed Yu (余), Cheng (鄭) and Tsai (蔡).
Members of the fraud ring were questioned yesterday by the Criminal Investigation Bureau’s central Taiwan office.
Yu allegedly headed the operation as the main financial backer, and together with Cheng and Tsai made fraudulent claims about being representatives of BlackRock Inc, the US multinational investment company that is among the world’s largest asset managers, and convincing people to invest in various schemes.
Bureau officials said that since 2021, the ring had enticed 81 people to buy stocks and funds, making NT$182 million.
Yu, Cheng and Tsai are facing charges of fraud, money laundering and engaging in organized crime.
BANKING FRAUD
In another investigation by Taipei prosecutors, businessman Wang Meng-po (王孟博) was questioned in connection with banking fraud in which he allegedly made NT$490 million.
Prosecutors said evidence showed that Wang registered shell companies in the Virgin Islands and, with the assistance of a Vietnamese man, produced fraudulent letters of credit to deceive Taishin International Bank and a Vietnamese bank.
Detailed checks found more than 100 transnational trades and money transfers conducted by the shell companies since 2021 were fraudulent, they said.
They forged letters of credit, proforma invoices, bills for the non-existent transport of cargo shipments and other forms of faked receipts to deceive the banks, prosecutors said.
Additional reporting by Chang Jui-chen
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their