The Taipei District Court tried the “ACE Exchange” virtual currency fraud case yesterday, questioning the former and current responsible persons of ACE Exchange, Pan Yizhang, Wang Chenhuan, and 8 other defendants. Pan Yizhang denied the crime, claiming that it was all masterminded by the fraud ring leader Lin Genghong, while Wang Chenhuan stated that he has been working on legal assistance for indigenous peoples in Nantou recently and hopes to check in locally once a week.
The Taipei District Prosecutors Office announced on April 26th the conclusion of the investigation into the ACE Exchange collusion with the fraud ring case. They indicted fraud ring leader Lin Genghong, former and current responsible persons of ACE Exchange, Pan Yizhang, prominent lawyer Wang Chenhuan, and 32 others on charges of organized crime, fraud, money laundering, and sought more than 20 years of imprisonment for the main suspects.
The prosecution alleged that the fraud ring had been selling MOCT, CSO, FITC, NFTC virtual currencies since 2019, writing false investment white papers, selling them through ACE and ProEx exchanges, establishing an IMBA direct sales team for promotion, publishing fake news on online media, manipulating coin prices, deceiving people into investing, resulting in 1292 victims and nearly NT$800 million in proceeds.
Pan Yizhang denied the crime and blamed it on Lin Genghong. During the court session, he denied the crime, stating that he did not have the ability or financial resources to organize and command a criminal organization, only receiving a salary as a professional manager. He claimed he did not profit from selling coins and left the team when his monthly salary decreased from NT$200,000 to NT$50,000.
Regarding the listing of non-mainstream coins on the ProEx exchange, Pan Yizhang claimed it was all orchestrated by Lin Genghong. He emphasized that he was just a professional manager, and when Lin Genghong needed funds, he would assign Pan Yizhang and two others to collect money at designated locations without knowledge of the source or destination of the funds.
Wang Chenhuan, the former CEO of ACE Exchange, claimed during the court session that he did not know Lin Genghong was living in a house rented to a marketing team member and requested to be allowed to report to the local police station or township office in Renai Township, Nantou, on a fixed day each week.
According to the prosecution’s indictment, Wang Chenhuan played the role of “military adviser,” teaching Lin Genghong to modify white papers, arrange virtual currency exchange for physical goods services, list them on DEEPCOIN and UNISWAP exchanges, and allegedly assigning lawyers to obtain confidential information for the fraud ring. Additionally, he was accused of hiding Lin Genghong in a house in Xindian District, New Taipei City, and defrauding the owner of a tea company under the guise of collecting “protection fees.”