Several Crypto Mining Operations Busted in Russia – Authorities have been cited by local crypto news outlets this week as saying that illegal cryptocurrency mining installations in Siberia and Southern Russia have been located and dismantled after being found by police and electricity suppliers. In one of the incidents, the individuals responsible for organizing a mining operation have been accused of stealing significant amounts of electricity.
In the Shpakovsky sector of the Stavropol Krai, employees of Rosseti North Caucasus discovered an improvised mining farm that was relatively substantial. The local power energy provider made the announcement on Friday that they had, in conjunction with law authorities, successfully seized 66 ASIC miners.
People Also Read: Russian Crypto Industry Queries Government About Proposed Criminal Liability for Miners
There is a possibility that a resident of the village of Nadezhda who installed the equipment in his home and linked it to the power grid will be held criminally responsible for the operation of the underground facility. According to the calculations of the company’s power engineers, it consumed 954,000 kWh of electricity at a cost of almost 6 million rubles ($78,000).
A similar installation was found in the attic of a school in the town of Shelekhov, which is located in the Irkutsk Oblast. The discovery was made after the local power utility called the police to report that the school was using an unusually large amount of electricity and that there was noise coming from the roof of the building.
Officers seized 25 mining units which had been installed by the school’s electrician and a friend of his who was an IT specialist. In the Siberian region, which has been dubbed the mining capital of Russia, such incidents are rather typical. In this region, many individuals mine in their basements, garages, and dachas in an effort to make a profit while making use of the subsidized energy in residential areas.
There have been over a thousand legal actions taken against people in Irkutsk who mine cryptocurrency from their homes, according to a report from February. This week, the Prosecutor’s Office of Tomsk, another Siberian oblast, announced that it has approved the indictment in a criminal case against seven local residents who organized to illegally connect several premises with cryptocurrency mining equipment to the grid.
People Also Read: British Bank NatWest Implements New Limits on Cryptocurrency Payments to Combat UK Crypto Scams
The indictment is part of a case against seven individuals who are charged with organizing the illegal connection of the premises. They are suspected of inflicting damages to the power supplier to the tune of about 310,000 rubles, a total of more than 24 million rubles.
The most recent instances of Russian authorities cracking down on illegal mining come at a time when lawmakers and government officials are getting ready to present an updated bill that is supposed to regulate the industry. Reactions from the cryptocurrency business were aroused when amendments were introduced that included criminal liability and severe fines for so-called “gray” miners that dodge taxation.