Authorities have nabbed an ex-postmaster in Russia for using his office computers for illegal crypto mining. The postmaster, according to investigations, illegally connected computers in his office and equipment for mining crypto to the power network in the branch of JSC Russian Post.
The former postmaster allegedly mined crypto with the machines he connected to the power source for not lesser than six months. Having been carrying out the illegal crypto mining operation since September last year in Mineralnye Vody, a border town between Russia and Azerbaijan, the ex-postmaster was said to have caused damages worth $427. He has also been charged in court for abuse of power.
Illegal crypto mining history in Russia
Reportedly, Illegal crypto mining in Russia has a history as this is not the first time a Russian would use a public computer to illegally mine crypto. Denis Baykov last year, who worked at a nuclear warhead factory, was sanctioned and asked to pay around $7,000 then as fine for making use of his office supercomputers to mine BTC.
Baykov, during his illegal crypto mining spree, implicated two other staff at his office then. According to a spokesperson where Baykov worked, he said that these staff used official computing power to mine cryptos.
Outside these arrests, in March, Russian police also arrested some miners for stealing electricity of about $200,000 to mine BTC at a gym and a no longer functional poultry farm. The miners made use of some modified electric meters to shortchange the government and underestimate energy consumed. Authorities discovered around 100 modified electric meters and thousands of special equipment.
They used abandoned buildings to hide the equipment they use and residential properties in different locations in the country. The mined cryptos, when ready, are eventually sold to crypto exchange firms outside Russia for fiat.
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