In the Angarsky Bereg gardening community near Irkutsk, a large-scale illegal connection of crypto mining equipment was discovered: residents installed and connected 238 devices to local power grids. The Third Department for Investigating Especially Important Cases of the Investigative Committee for the Irkutsk Region has opened a criminal case under the signs of fraud as defined in Part 4, Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code.
Details of the Criminal Case
The investigation established that the mining rigs were connected to the power networks supplying the population of the Irkutsk district, while electricity payments were made under discounted tariffs. The damage linked by investigators to the illegal connections is estimated at 68 million rubles.
Investigation and Equipment Seizure
As part of the investigation, a special group was formed by the regional investigative department, and searches were conducted during which about 1,500 mining devices were seized and witnesses questioned. These actions relate not only to the case in Angarsky Bereg but also to previously initiated investigations in other gardening communities within the Irkutsk district.
Authorities' Response
Irkutsk Region Governor Igor Kobzev sent an appeal to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin requesting a ban on cryptocurrency mining in southern Priangarye due to energy shortages. Concurrently, investigative activities cover other gardening communities, including 'Uyutnoye' and 'Molodezhnoye.'
Why This Matters
If you mine in the region, this case shows that authorities are monitoring large-scale illegal connections and may classify such actions as large-scale fraud. The Angarsky Bereg case illustrates that informal schemes exploiting discounted tariffs attract investigative attention and lead to equipment seizures.
What to Do?
If you operate from one to a thousand devices, follow simple rules to reduce risks related to electricity and legal issues. First, verify the legality of your connection scheme and the correctness of the tariffs you pay for electricity.
- Ensure your electricity meter and supply contract correspond to the actual load.
- Do not connect equipment to residential networks using schemes that bypass commercial settlements or misuse discounted tariffs.
- Keep documentation on your equipment and payments — this will help demonstrate the legality of your activities during inspections.
If you need materials on detection methods and consequences of such schemes, read, for example, articles on how electricity theft is detected and the article on electricity consumption by mining in the region. To understand the scale of such findings in the area, refer to the case of the third discovery.
