Police in the Malaysian state of Jahor have broken up a gang of seven who stole 8.6 million Malaysian ringgits ($ 2.15 million) to mine Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Police said they confiscated 1,746 Bitcoin mining machines in 21 premises during raids between February 15 and 16, the Malay Mail reported. The miners are said to be worth a total of 2.6 million ringgits ($ 650,000).
● Seven local suspects, between the ages of 24 and 64, were arrested in the operation involving domestic energy company Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).
● “The syndicate, which has been active since the beginning of last year, has carried out its activities on the top floor of a commercial building to avoid detection by the authorities,” said Johor’s police chief Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.
● Ayob Khan added that police are still investigating the operation, the alleged mastermind and other gang members are still at large.
● “Investigators do not rule out that the syndicate also has ties to syndicates in other states that run the same mode used for their bitcoin mining activities,” he said.
● According to Johor TNB, the electricity company suffered losses of around 90 million ringgit ($ 22.5 million) last year from electricity theft related to Bitcoin mining.
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