Four people have been arrested and more than 400 Bitcoin mining machines have been seized in the Malaysian city of George Town following a series of police raids on seven premises.
Fast Facts:
- George Town Officer in Charge of Police District Assistant Commissioner Soffian Santong said officers from the district police headquarters and the state criminal investigation department, accompanied by staff from electricity utility Tenaga Nasional, conducted four raids on Friday night and in the early hours of Saturday morning following three raids earlier on Friday.
- An initial joint investigation alleged that the mining operations on all four premises had been stealing electricity from the grid.
- Tenaga Nasional estimates that it has lost around MYR420,000 (US$102,300) of electricity over the past two months as a result of the alleged theft.
- Police are still seeking the whereabouts of the alleged mastermind behind the mining operations, who is believed to have been running them for several months.
