According to Cointelegraph: Law enforcement authorities in Indonesia have reportedly shut down 10 Bitcoin mining operations, alleging that their operators stole nearly $1 million's worth of electricity.
The North Sumatra Police Force moved against the Bitcoin mining operation, which was spread across 10 different locations in the country. During the operation, they seized 1,134 Bitcoin mining machines, 11 meters of electrical cable, and other computer equipment.
Irjen Agung Setya Imam Effendi, the Chief of North Sumatra Police, claimed that the organizers of these operations had manipulated electrical circuits to illegally power a vast quantity of Bitcoin mining machines.
Effendi provided further color on the illicit setup, explaining how the accused circumvented PLN (Indonesian State Electricity Company) boxes to tap electricity directly from the pole, bypassing any metering.
The total loss from all ten locations is estimated to be around 14.4 billion Indonesian rupiahs, or approximately $935,666.
In related news, recently a Chinese government official, Yi Xiao, received a life sentence for abuse of power related to encouraging illicit electricity usage for Bitcoin mining purposes. Xiao ran a Bitcoin mining business that, at its peak, drained up to 10% of the city of Fuzhou’s entire electricity supply.
