Taiwanese Police Arrest Miner Accused of Stealing Millions in Power

A man with the Surname of Yang has been accused of stealing 100 million Taiwanese dollars (nearly $3.25 million) worth of electricity to mine cryptocurrencies. Yang is suspected of stealing power from 17 different stores in Northern Taiwan to fuel his mining operations.

Taiwanese Miner Steals More Than $3 Million Worth of Power

Yang is accused of renting internet cafes or toy stores located on the first floor of a building, before hiring electricians to rewire the power supply to the premises in a way that would prevent the metering of power later diverted to fuel his mining operations. The internet cafes and toy stores would be located on the first floor in order to facilitate Yang establishing a mining rig on the floor above the shop once a new owner had taken over the business.

Wang Zhicheng, the deputy head of the fourth brigade of Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau, stated: “The group recruited electricians who managed to break into the sealed meters in order to add in private lines to use electricity for free before that usage reaches the meters.”

China Cracks Down on Illegal Mining Operations

Yang is believed to have operated illegal cryptocurrency mines above 17 stores located in the municipalities of Xinbei, Taoyuan, and Hsinchu. The profits generated from Yang’s illegal mining operations are estimated to have been at least 100 million Taiwanese dollars (roughly $3.25 million).

Across the Taiwan Strait, Chinese authorities on the mainland have increasingly taken action against illegal mining operations in recent months. In September, Chinese cryptocurrency miner Xu Xinghua was fined 100,000 Chinese Yuan (roughly $14,500) for stealing electricity from a factory at Kouquan Railway during Nov. 2017 and Dec. 2017 to power 50 cryptocurrency miners that generated approximately 3.2 BTC.

In June, police in China’s Hanshan County arrested an individual for allegedly stealing 150,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity. The miner told police that he had purchased the mining equipment just two months earlier and that he had failed to turn a profit at the time of the arrest.