IPOH - Police seized 72 bitcoin machines worth RM140,000 at a shophouse suspected to have been used to steal electricity in Jalan Intan 3, Bandar Baru Teluk Intan today.
The raid was conducted by the Hilir Perak district police headquarters (IPD) Criminal Investigation Division at 1.30 am after receiving complaints from residents in the area that their homes often experienced blackouts.
Hilir Perak district police chief ACP Ahmad Adnan Basri said they entered the shophouse with the help of technicians from Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and Fire and Rescue Department personnel.
He said they inspected the premises and found several bitcoin mining machines arranged on racks and which were working.
"Special TNB technicians conducted further inspections on the illegal wirings in the shophouse and confirmed that there was power theft."They cut the electricity supply to the shophouse,” he said in a statement today.
He said police immediately seized all the bitcoin mining equipment and took it to the Hilir Perak IPD for further action.
There was no individual at the scene during the raid and the investigation was conducted under Section 427 of the Penal Code and Section 37 of the Electricity Supply Act 1990, he added. - Bernama