Law enforcement and other authorities in Dagestan have closed down two illegal crypto farms, confiscating more than 1,500 mining machines. Government agencies in the republic, considered one of Russia’s capitals of underground coin minting, carry out regular raids against such facilities.
Officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan and the Federal Security Service have uncovered a large crypto mining farm in the Russian republic’s capital city, Makhachkala, Tass news agency reported, quoting the ministry. The law enforcement agents have seized 1,476 devices producing digital currencies, a press release detailed.
The department added that the owners of the illegal facility have been also providing services to other miners including installing mining rigs, connecting them to the power grid and providing security. Experts are now working to establish the market value of the confiscated mining equipment as well as the amount of consumed electricity.
The law enforcement officials who raided the crypto farm further noted they are collecting evidence to charge the operators under Part 2 of Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, “Illegal entrepreneurship,” and part 2 of Art. 165, “Causing property damage by deception or abuse of trust.”
In another case, the local power grid operator and distributor, Rosseti Severniy Kavkaz, recently found 95 rigs minting cryptocurrency at a facility of the republic’s water supply utility, Мahachkala Vodokanal. The hardware was installed in a metal container at the Vuzovskoe Ozero pumping station.
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