Ukraine Discovers Illegal Crypto Mining Farm in Lviv

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Source: Rastislav Sedlak SK

Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations said it discovered an illegal cryptocurrency mining farm at a state-owned company in the western Lviv region.

In an official message, the office (SBI) said the farm was managed by the directors of a subsidiary of the state-owned Forests of Ukraine in Rava-Ruske.

The city is in the Lviv Oblast (region) and is located near the Polish border.

Officers said the farm mined more than $108,000 for his brains and consumed some $41,000 in government resources, including electricity from the public grid.

The SBI said the branch’s ‘former manager’, who now ‘runs another branch’, set up the farm, along with the current manager – who was the former chief’s deputy.

The branch’s chief accountant and “other responsible individuals” were also instrumental in setting up the farm, the agency said.

The SBI said the individuals created the farm “over a year ago” and “stored” the coins they mined in “specially created personal crypto wallets.”

The company’s accounts “paid the electricity bills”, officials said.

An SBI agent investigates. (Source: State Investigation Bureau of Ukraine)

Local authorities began to suspect something was wrong when they noticed a ‘systematic overload’ on regional power grids, as well as ‘large-scale blackouts and interruptions in the power supply to facilities. housing and local infrastructure”.

Crypto mining rigs seized during the raid. (Source: State Investigation Bureau of Ukraine)

Officers raided the property and confiscated USB drives, computers, laptops, cell phones, video cards, electrical equipment, motherboards, processors, hard drives, cooling equipment and servers.

They claimed the “estimated value of the equipment” was “over $81,000”.

The alleged masterminds were arrested and charged with embezzlement of state assets.

Their files were forwarded to the Ternopil regional prosecutor’s office.

If convicted, the alleged organizers could be jailed for up to 8 years.

Police said they are investigating a number of other people who may have been involved.

Last month, Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau unveiled a new plan to tackle the rise of “crypto-corruption”.

The nation also hopes to roll out EU-inspired crypto regulations and new tax rules for traders.

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