CEZ Group, one of the largest exporters of electricity in Europe, recently uncovered the largest theft of electricity in Bulgaria by cryptocurrency miners to date.
According to the publication Vesti, for the largest in the history of Bulgaria’s electricity stealing are responsible Bitcoin miners whose farms were located in the village of Herakovo. More than 1,000 ASIC miners that were hidden in the village cooperative farm building were illegally connected to the power supply. All devices were confiscated by the police.
According to the publication, the electricity stolen as a result of illegal mining of cryptocurrencies would be enough to provide electricity to about 4,250 families for a month. The CEZ Group claims to be able to quickly detect network losses and find locations with such anomalies thanks to constantly evolving technology. The company’s anti-electricity theft department launched an investigation as soon as abnormal consumption was discovered.
The theft of electricity by cryptocurrency miners is quite common. In June, a criminal case was opened in Dagestan against the operator of a mining farm who illegally consumed electricity. The miner was accused of causing damage to the energy company for 34 million rubles.
In May, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against the former head of the Russian Post branch in Mineralnye Vody. He was suspected of illegal mining at the company’s facilities. In addition, in March, the St. Petersburg police discovered an illegal connection to the power grid in order to steal electricity for mining.
