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Bulgarian police arrest 2 Bitcoin miners for stealing $1.5M worth of electricity

Two cryptocurrency miners were arrested by Bulgarian authorities for illegally siphoning electricity to their mining farms.

Image by: Marco Verch Professional Photographer and Speaker / Flickr

Tue, 18 Aug 2020, 13:44 pm UTC

Cryptocurrency mining is an energy-intensive endeavor that mining firms would do everything possible to lower the electricity bill. But some Bitcoin farm owners go overboard by resorting to illegally siphoning electrical power from the grid.

This is what happened in Bulgaria where authorities arrested two men for the theft of more than $1.5 million in electricity, according to Cointelegraph. Two suspects own two crypto mining farms for Bitcoin (BTC) located in the town of Kyustendil. The two men were detained for 24 hours but were later released while awaiting trial.

At a news conference, Oblast Directorate of the Ministry of Interior Affairs (ODMVR) and CEZ Electro Bulgaria said that the two men, aged 31 and 38, came from Sofia, the Bulgarian capital. Investigations reveal that the two crypto mining farms have been illegally funneling electricity for three to six months. However, the mining equipment found in the two facilities has already been there for more than a year.

The case was described as “the largest theft” of electricity that the power firm had ever discovered according to CEZ Deputy Director Philip Yordanov. The total amount of electricity stolen by the Bitcoin miners was reportedly enough for the electrical needs of the entire town for one month.

Authorities all over the world have uncovered numerous cases involving electricity theft by cryptocurrency miners. One of the largest thefts ever reported happened in China in July 2019, where 4,000 mining rigs confiscated from nine different locations. Officials arrested 22 suspects for stealing electricity estimated to be worth $3 million.

In June 2020, authorities arrested a resident of the Russian city of Makhachkala for electricity theft by creating a massive mining network that connected 500 platforms to the city’s power grid. It was reported that the total energy stolen by the 30-year old suspect’s mining network is estimated to be worth 34 million rubles or $494,000.

The mining scheme was used to mine Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins. The suspect reportedly used specialized equipment to connect the cables to the power line.

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