A former facilities worker in the United States state of Massachusetts is accused of stealing about $18,000 in electricity to power 11 crypto miners in a school’s crawl area.
A former facilities worker who reportedly set up a hidden crypto mining business inside a Massachusetts school’s crawl space is poised to be arrested after failing to appear in court to answer charges.
According to media sources, Nadeam Nahas was set to be arraigned on Feb. 23 on allegations of vandalism and illegal use of electricity.
A default warrant is a sort of warrant that is issued by courts when a person fails to appear in court or comply with an order, and it allows law enforcement agents to arrest the offender.
Nahas, who previously worked in the facilities department for the municipality of Cohasset, Massachusetts, is accused of stealing about $18,000 in electricity to run his crypto-mining operation in 2021, between April 28 and December 14.
Local authorities were apparently first made aware of the operation in December 2021, after Cohasset’s facilities director observed computers, wiring, and ductwork that appeared out of place given their location in a crawl hole near the school’s boiler room.
After a three-month inquiry, Nahas was named as a suspect when 11 computers were discovered there.
In March, Nahas resigned from his post with the town of Cohasset.
It is not the first time that someone has been charged with stealing electricity to mine cryptocurrencies.
Malaysian officials burned $1.2 million worth of Bitcoin mining rigs collected from residents who were stealing electricity to mine in July 2021.
In August of the previous year, Bulgarian officials detained two men for unlawfully siphoning off more than $1.5 million in energy to run two crypto-mining farms.
