All news

Police shut down mining farm in Leningrad Region causing over 1 bln rubles in damages

The police detained six suspects

MOSCOW, October 27. /TASS/. Police officers have halted the work of a mining farm in the Leningrad Region, which caused damage estimated at 1 billion rubles, according to Russian Interior Ministry Spokeswoman Irina Volk.

"Over a billion rubles — that is the preliminary estimate of the damage caused by the illegal mining farm. Its activities were disrupted by my colleagues from the St. Petersburg Linear Department of the Russian Interior Ministry for Transport," she wrote on her Telegram channel.

Volk added that the police had detained six suspects.

Preliminary findings indicate that officials from the regional branch of the transport company colluded with miners. The perpetrators took advantage of their authority and granted permission to install equipment for generating cryptocurrency on the premises of two traction substations. "As a result, more than 80 million kW of electricity was stolen. According to preliminary estimates, the total damage surpasses 1 billion rubles," the agency spokeswoman added.

Police officers seized computers, flash cards, phones, cameras, credit cards, documents, and more than 7 million rubles, as well as mining equipment. Officers of the Russian National Guard took part in the operation.

Criminal cases have been initiated against the detainees under Part 3 of Article 286 of the Russian Criminal Code. The article stipulates a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. Two suspects have been placed in custody, while the others are under house arrest.