Indonesian police authorities have reportedly closed down 10 Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations, accusing the organizers of electricity theft amounting to nearly $1 million.
According to a recent local report, the North Sumatra Police Force took action against a multi-site Bitcoin mining operation across 10 locations in Indonesia, confiscating 1,134 Bitcoin mining machines along with 11 meters of electrical cable and computer equipment.
The Chief of North Sumatra Police, Irjen Agung Setya Imam Effendi, alleged that the organizers of the operation had tampered with electrical circuits to power the substantial number of Bitcoin mining machines.
“As we can see here, this is the PLN box. However, the electricity flow inside it is not the proper flow that should enter the box and be measured by the meter. Instead, what they took is the upper part, where electricity is taken directly from the pole and channeled inside.”
It was further claimed that the total loss from these 10 electricity theft locations is estimated to be 14.4 billion Indonesian rupiahs, which is approximately $935,666.
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This comes after a Chinese government official was sentenced to life in prison for facilitating access to electricity for Bitcoin miners.
Yi Xiao, a former vice chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Political Consultative Conference Party Group, was reportedly sentenced to life in prison by the Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court for abuse of power in a Bitcoin mining enterprise.
Xiao allegedly operated a 2.4 billion Chinese yuan ($329 million) Bitcoin mining enterprise under the corporate name Jiumu Group Genesis Technology from 2017 to 2021.
Xiao amassed over 160,000 Bitcoin miners with other corporate executives and, at one point, consumed 10% of the city of Fuzhou’s entire electricity supply.
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