In Russia’s oldest prison, Butyrka, a high-ranking representative is under investigation for setting up a crypto mining farm.
The hardware for coin mining was found in a psychiatric clinic run by the Federal Penitentiary Service at the prison.
One of the deputy wardens of the prison is being checked for possible abuse of power by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.
The co-conspirators are yet to be identified by the investigators. However, it has been established that the hardware was installed in November 2021. The rigs were mining crypto until February of this year.
The machine, in this duration, consumed almost 8,400 kw of electricity paid by the government, which costs more than 62,000 rubles (approximately $1000).
The deputy warden is thus being accused of “actions that clearly go beyond his powers, thereby significantly violating the legally protected interests of the society or the state.”
Stealing electricity to mine crypto has become a common phenomenon and problem in Russia. Regions with historically low electricity rates, such as Krasnoyarsk Krai and Irkutsk Oblast have become centers of unauthorized activities.
All of this illegal mining has led to frequent blackouts in the residential areas.
Russian authorities are on high-alert to combat this problem. The law enforcement agencies also recently seized over 1,500 mining rigs from two illegal cryptocurrency farms in Dagestan.
On the other hand, Denis Manturov the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation expects crypto could be legalized in the country by this year. Russia’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is already in the testing phase.
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