Last September, these men placed mining equipment in garage boxes in different districts of the regional center and began mining cryptocurrency, the security forces insist. To reduce the volume of recorded electricity consumption, the miners 'interfered with the operation of metering devices,' the police clarified.
The company "Novgorodoblenergo" estimated the damage from the nine secret farms at more than 18.6 million rubles. During the searches, the suspects' documents, bank cards, phones, computer equipment, and devices with access to crypto wallets were seized. The Investigative Department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has initiated a criminal case under paragraphs "a" and "b" of part 2 of Article 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ('Causing property damage by deception or abuse of trust').
The Novgorod region is not on the list of regions where a ban on mining has been in effect since January 1, 2025.
Earlier, a 37-year-old entrepreneur from Nizhny Novgorod organized a network of nine crypto farms operating in violation of the rules for connection to power grids, the Russian transport police reported. Nizhny Novgorod energy workers estimated their damage at almost 20 million rubles.
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