Johor police arrested three men aged 26 to 46 for allegedly stealing electricity to run a cryptocurrency mining operation across four premises in Johor, Malaysia. The arrests occurred during raids on July 22 and 23, with a press conference held by Johor police chief Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad on July 24 revealing details of the case [1, 2, 3, 4].
The suspects included one manager who oversaw all four locations and two technicians responsible for installing and maintaining the mining machines. The men, from Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, were remanded until July 26 as investigations continued [1, 2, 5, 3, 4].
Police raided three residential homes and one commercial shop lot rented via third parties at monthly rates ranging from RM5,000 to RM6,000. At these sites in Johor Bahru, Iskandar Puteri, Johor Bahru Utara, and Kulai, authorities seized 71 cryptocurrency mining machines along with computers, laptops, routers, monitors, keyboards, mobile phones, padlocks, keys, and two vehicles [1, 2, 5, 3, 4].
The syndicate operated for about one month by directly tapping electricity lines to bypass the legitimate meters of Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB). This allowed them to mine cryptocurrency without paying electricity bills. TNB estimated losses due to stolen power at about RM67,502.30 for the period [1, 2, 5, 3, 4].
Police said the syndicate mined cryptocurrencies worth an estimated RM80,000 to RM100,000 during this time. Johor police chief Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said, "Initial investigations found the syndicate was capable of generating profits of between RM80,000 and RM100,000 per month, while the suspects are believed to have been paid around RM5,000 a month" [1, 2, 5, 3, 4].
The case is being investigated under Section 427 of the Penal Code for mischief and Section 37(1) of the Electricity Supply Act 1990. Authorities are also tracking other individuals believed to be linked to the syndicate [2, 3].
The remand order on the suspects is due to expire on July 26, with further investigations ongoing [1, 2, 5, 3, 4].
