Thai authorities have swooped in and seized nearly 1,000 Bitcoin mining machines from a company in the eastern part of the country.
996 miners were confiscated during a raid in Chon Buri’s Phanat Nikhom district, all amid serious allegations of energy theft.
Play nice
Per the reports from the Bangkok Post, this raid was no random act, as the Crime Suppression Division had been already keeping an eye on JIT Co. after noticing some suspiciously high power consumption.
The company is officially registered for digital asset trading, but it seems they might have been playing a different game altogether.
The CSD teamed up with the Provincial Electricity Authority for this operation after discovering that JIT Co. allegedly tampered with its power meter.
This move allowed them to mine Bitcoin without paying for the electricity they were using.
How much power did they steal?
PEA officials estimate that this operation was racking up electricity costs in the hundreds of millions of baht, and that’s millions of dollars.
The exact amount is still being figured out, but it’s safe to say it’s not pocket change.
One employee, who chose to remain anonymous, spilled the beans to police, admitting that they were stealing electricity at night while using the power meter normally during the day to avoid detection.
Right to the jail?
The CSD isn’t stopping here, they’re still investigating who’s behind this operation and plan to seek court warrants for their arrest.
It looks like Thailand is taking a hard stance against energy theft in the crypto mining world, and we can expect more scrutiny on industrial level operations.
