Officials in the Malaysian country of Johor shut down two crypto operations which had stolen more than $600,000 worth of electricity over three years.

According to a Sept. 1 study from local news site The Star, Malaysia's Free energy Commission, power utility firm Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), and local officials arrested individuals responsible for the theft of more than $600,000 in electricity used for crypto mining. The authorities raided two mining operations in the city of Iskandar Puteri.

Nazlin Alim Sadikhi, a regional managing director with the country's Energy Commission, said 1 of the crypto mining operations with 100 rigs had been operating nonstop for three years. The other setup with 48 rigs chugged along mining crypto for two years. The owners only paid $7-14 monthly for electricity, but together with the rig operators siphoned virtually $20,000 worth of ability monthly.

"We constitute that illegal wiring was installed so that electricity was supplied directly and not through the TNB meter," Sadikhi said.

Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations illegally obtaining power are an ongoing trouble in Malaysia, though crypto mining and trading are allowed in the state.

Nether Section 37 of Malaysia's Electricity Supply Act, those who steal electricity in some place other than a "domestic installation" for more than than 1 offence face a maximum penalty of $1.2 million or ten years' imprisonment. Withal, The Star reported the individuals responsible for the recent theft may face 10 years in jail or a maximum fine of $240,000 if plant guilty.

TNB engineer Mohd Satari Mohamad said regime had raided 90 similar installations in 2022, totaling 288 since 2022. Cointelegraph reported last twelvemonth that TNB had lost more than $25 meg in electrical costs every bit of June 2022, with i Baronial raid taking downwardly 33 operations that had stolen $760,000 worth of electricity.