In Penang, a Malaysian state, police seized 211 bitcoin mining machines today worth RM100,000 following the arrest of four men carrying out illicit bitcoin currency mining activities in a series of raids.
Yesterday, Malaysian Police captured over 400 bitcoin mining machines worth a total of RM180,000 ($43,800). Assistant Commissioner (ACP) Soffian Santong stated,
A task force from the district police headquarters, state criminal investigation department, and Tenaga Nasional conducted four raids in the bust from 11.30 pm to 3 am on Friday, June 11.
The investigations on the men directed police to another two shophouses in Jelutong, which also carried out Bitcoin mining activities and had an illegal electricity connection. As a consequence, police seized four computers, 11 routers, four modems, and ten fans.
The Assistant Commissioner revealed that the suspects under interrogations pretended they were cleaners and only started working two months ago. However, inspections at all four premises raided in the bust found evidence they had illegally connected electricity to the properties.
The men have been remanded to facilitate investigation under Section 379 and Section 427 of the Penal Code and Section 37 of the Electricity Supply Act 1990.
In February, Malaysian police arrested seven men for stealing millions of dollars worth of electricity to mine bitcoin. According to the inquiry, the gang has cost TNB 8.6 million Malaysian ringgits (US$2.13 million) in lost income since it began mining operations in 2020.
The authorities confiscated 1,746 bitcoin mining devices totaling RM2.6 million ($64,000) from 21 different locations.
Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Malaysia’s multinational electricity company, estimated losses of around RM420,000 or $102,239 over the past two months due to the electricity theft.
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