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Information reaching out by a local news outlet RNS, state that a former chief of Russia post local branch has been arrested by the Russia police on suspicion of running a crypto mining farm inside the office for almost six months. During the period of his mining the federal service of Starvropol territory has spent about 30,000 Russia rubles.
Link to source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-police-arrest-former-post-office-branch-chief-for-mining-crypto-at-work.

If you're to be the judge, how will you handle this issue of abuse of power?

I'm no judge, and I know little to nothing about law, but if you run a crypto mining farm inside the office even if you shouldn't, and especially knowing that it isn't even related to your job, that's easily theft of government resources. Assuming everything goes fairly, chances are, that former chielf of Russia is probably going to do some jail time.

Exactly. What was that guy thinking about running an obvious farm without attracting some sort of attention.

I'm not convinced that he's THAT stupid for thinking that no one would notice a mining farm running. It's probably more of that he thinks no one is going to snitch him out, probably because he's a regional post office chief.

Anyway, the event OP's talking about: https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-police-arrest-former-post-office-branch-chief-for-mining-crypto-at-work

Not the first time that we have heard high profile personalities in Russia abusing their privilege to mine cryptos, Russian nuclear scientists arrested for 'Bitcoin mining plot' (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43003740).

https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-police-arrest-former-post-office-branch-chief-for-mining-crypto-at-work


Wow, he has stolen 70$ worth of electricity a month.
Such heinous crime that can trigger an economic recession in the entire Stavropol Krai should be punished as sabotage against the country, a life sentence without parole would be an act of mercy for this treachery.


Mining farm.... ::)
At the price of 4cents per kWh according to Knoema for that region, it gives a total of 1750 kWh per month consumed, that's not enough to feed two s9 miners.
Farm, lol!

Sure he would've most probably get a lot more in trouble if he instead stole millions worth, but regardless how big or small the value stolen is, in the end, it doesn't really change the fact that it's technically still theft. He probably doesn't deserve like a decade of jail time, but he still deserves to be punished one way or another. At the very least him getting fired.

In terms of energy consumption, the case seems pretty small compared to the 60M Rubles involved in energy expensed in this 2018 case:  Large Mining Farm Discovered in Abandoned Russian Factory (https://news.bitcoin.com/large-mining-farm-discovered-in-abandoned-russian-factory/).

The case being mention in the OP stole an equivalent of 427$ worth of energy (30K Rubles). That value won’t likely warrant much more than a fine and a repayment plan. Taking into account that the average salary for a senior police officer in Russia is of 58K Rubles per month (see http://www.salaryexplorer.com/salary-survey.php?loc=179&loctype=1&job=504&jobtype=3), the skimmed amount of energy adds up to around half of a police officer’s salary.

Will result in the loss of his job along with a repayment plan and a penalty added on top of that for using government resources. Although this could be one of the people that are made as an example to others to not try to pull this shit and more severe actions could be taken but you are probably right and the worse thing that will happen is a repayment plan with a little extra taken out of his salary on a percentage basis.

30k rubles in 6 months is just over $400. Such thing can't be even called as mining farm. 1 or 2 rigs isn't farm. What a dangerous criminal! Though, it's still crime and thst guy should be punished. I don't think that he should be sent to jail, it would too strict. IMO, best decision would be give him fine and also cover electricity expenses. But I'm not judge.
I doubt that this man was able to set up bigger farm because it barely would be unnoticed. You know, noise, significantly increased payments for electricity.

I got a feeling that he's one of those "free-electricity guys" in the Altcoin mining section that I've seen before (About 8 of them).
I remember someone who said they are mining in the basement of something and controlling their rigs from home.

1750 kWh sounds enough for a 6-10 GPU Rig. Still, not enough to be called "mining farm".

Behind the bars. Easy judgment tbh. Considering he pretty much abused his position, basically leeching off electricity from others. Sides, considering he's of a high position, I doubt the judge is going to spend much time considering how the hell did this guy even not think of the repercussions of his actions. Basically pushing his influence thinking he could get away with this. Jail time and also make him pay the ~$400 his rig spent should be enough I suppose? Though the rig he has really seems quite small, I don't even know why this made the news. The one below that talks about the miners who stole $200k a month seems more like a better option to report on than this.

Guy probably had his own office, so for all we know he might have simply "hidden" them there. After all according to the wattage it was at most 1-2 rigs running. Additionally that's such a small scale that most people won't bother calling someone out on it, especially if they are their superior. I'm honestly surprised somebody bothered at all.

Many get away with it but any institution/company must pay electricity bill and if that bill will raise  in significant way they will search why.
Thats short way of discovering illegal mining operation. Saw too much "free electricity" posts in mining community over the years. There is no free electricity, someone must pay for it.

I don't have any idea about the law but can someone tell me if mining inside the office is really a crime?

I can't see anything wrong with that but if it against the law, the people who are involved in those mining inside the office should be arrested. There would be nor person the is exempted about the crime they have done. In some other side, having that kind of mining would be great for the company if they are also responsible for such things. It would benefit them in earning more bitcoins.
Indeed, doing other things while you are at work is not really good, you have to be responsible for the things you have done. Once you are at work, you shouldn't do something that is not related to your work. :)

Every country has their own law and punishment for every criminal offense, I consider this offense qualified theft and usurpation of authority, he will have to go to jail and pay for the damages incurred, it's up to the judge to meted how many years and how much compensation but qualified theft is higher than theft, because you are stealing from a company that gave you authority.

Well, here the problem is he doesn't do the mining on its own house or its own installations, that was the big mistake. I think that was what the police considered abuse and the main reason to take him to jail. The profit hi made by mining will be part of the charge.

As long as he is not explicitly allowed to.. definitely.
He intentionally stole electricity.

That's not less of a crime than stealing office equipment.
Both can get you fired.. or charged.
Most companies simply don't care about someone stealing a pen. But stealing tons of electricity might be something different.

Unless he asked permission and allowed to do that, there's no problem. But it's likely the opposite and what we're all thinking are correct about what he's done.

He's doing it for free and somebody's paying for the bill so obviously, it's stealing.

Crime is a crime and according to crime codes (yгoлoвный кoдeкc (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_Code_of_Russia) - in russian) it has no value. He will just pay an administrative fine of several thousand russian rubles and be free.

So in the end it's just news that gets overblown because crypto was involved. Got it.

To be fair "Local post guy to face mid-sized administrative fees for stealing electricity worth a couple of bucks from their employer in a small town of rural Russia" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

In other news, a bike got toppled in China. Possible cause of recent Bitcoin price drop? Details at 10.

Doing hidden mining for 6 months in the office without being known by anyone, of course a long time. Then how much mining results did he get for 6 months? does he benefit, because the total resource cost spent is only 30,000 Russian rubles equivalent to $426.

He spent only about $70 / month on the cost of resources needed. this is only a small miner and not so burdensome, but still violates the rules. Maybe the judge's decision is just a fine and a prison sentence in a few weeks. Not a big case when compared with corruption and other cases.

When you run something like that at work sooner or later you're going to get caught because people will tell on you.

You will get into an argument with one of your co-workers or somebody will do it out of envy.

It was a very risky operation. He was too greedy and got caught. I don't think it was worth the profit.

As long as those resources were not meant to be used for something else I don't see what the problem is. Many companies leave so many computers on overnight and its all to waste. Why not install some miners on them?
The thing is they probably don't want people messing with them and I wonder how this person got caught. Surely if you set the threshold low for the miner no one will know? Especially if it's late at night when not many resources are needed?

I don't think he should have run a crypto mining farm inside his office. In every country, there are some laws in the department, everyone should work according to those laws. He probably wouldn't have been in this predicament if he had run a crypto mining farm in his own home or on his own. Now he has to be released in accordance with the law. Hopefully everyone will learn from here for the future.

Russian Authorities Are Considering Punishing Bitcoin Buyers With Fines $ 7,000 Or Imprisonment
https://azcoinnews.com/russian-authorities-are-considering-punishing-bitcoin-buyers-with-fines-7000-or-imprisonment.html

It's basically theft. Why? because they are stealing electricity and resources outside of their work which is against the law. Also, I've heard that Russia is against cryptocurrency at some point. I'm not sure about that but there's been a lot of articles about it.

Yeah a crime is a crime and since it was illegally run makes it a crime because it was not approve by the management or the officials,
If I were to be the judge of course a fine will be enough, more than whatever he ever made from the six months of mining won't be enough for him to pay off his fine,
Knowing the position of crypto in Russia at present, why will he even consider doing that especially in a place like an office, whatever happens to his personal residence! He wanted free electricity now it will cost him a lot more than if he had just done it at home.

How haven't people inside his work notice that he is consuming the government's electricity for six months without anybody noticing? Unfortunate for him, some people have recognized his crime using free electricity through crypto mining and doing things unrelated to his job. But I assume that the judge won't go too far to his crime from doing a crypto mining farm inside his work.

Let the judge handle his violation and his sanction will always depends on the existing law.
There's a clear violation since mining is his personal business, it's an abuse of power, he get his earning free of expenses by passing that on to the government.

What a silly officer, committing crimes but not using his brain properly.

No one would ever allow such thing, in the first place that's against the rules of work ethics, you are not allowed to do other things while youre in your work shift, most specially inside the work place.
That's a direct stealing of government property, and there's no enough excuses If you're caught red handed.

I doubt, that's not a mining farm, It's too impossible not being noticed for 6 months considering the loud noise of the mining farm. He might be running a few Bitcoin miner.

Well, anything could be a farm if you're brave enough ;)

Why would you start mining at the office?  ;D
There are rules that needs to be followed when you are inside a working station.
Just like any other regular employees would follow.

Like no smartphones allowed, flash drive, etc.
Obviously guilty if there are evidences found.

Do you have the link for the news?

https://decrypt.co/30743/russia-post-office-crypto-mining

Used the office PCs to mine apparently.

Pretty sure that he's aware that someone did already notice on the activity that he's been doing and i agree that since he's the chief on said branch then no

person would really have the courage to make complaints or even simple questions about on what he's been doing.

---

In talks about law then this do particular talks about abuse or theft since you dont really have the permission on using up resources towards you mining activity specially
if it doesnt really correlate into your work.So its no brainer that he would really need to face up the consequences.

Misusing of power or of the office may be the strict law in some countries and considering such situations government is going to take the course due of action and accordingly charge the penalty and so on. Though it is always better not to do such kind of stuff on somebody else property which can ruin the things and future career.

Since he is a former chief, I'd like to honor how much he had spent his life serving the country, and to be the judge I'd just give him community service. We are always forgiving to our heroes  ;D  Where is the link to this news, I'm curious how big his farm before the verdict.

I'd like to know how much he had mined before and after the halving. It sure had been enjoying the free energy and earned coins.

edit: seen the link but no details to its news.

I just don't understand how russian authorities are that strict when it comes to cryptocurrency. Those Russian nuclear scientist that was arrested due to illegal mining of cryptocurrency should be investigated enough before filing a criminal case against them.

Those people are really wise and intelligent enough in making ways on how to use cryptocurrency even though it is prohibited in their country. No one is exempted when it comes to the laws of the government of Russia, that's why even high profile personalities can be arrested and put into jail once they don't have any permits to present even if they are working on that top-russian Nuclear Power Plant.

I don't have any knowledge about the law so I won't judge but the thing here is that he does something that is not related to his work but is it already considered as a crime so he has to be arrested by the police? The people who are included in that bitcoin mining should be also arrested.

You do not need to be a judge to understand the seriousness of the issue, stealing power from your employer and that too from the government will land you in serious trouble let alone the job and the hefty fine you are going to pay and there were many in the past that were caught stealing electricity from their employer in the past especially in China and to be frank it is not even worth to do such activities as all the perils you make will be gone once you are caught and the chances are 99%.

Every company has rules and policies that you must follow. Legal steps can be taken in that case. Some of those policies are that you can use (or misuse) company resources for own benefit ( but causing no benefit to company and only financial loss). They can always sue you for using their resource.
I were to be the judge, I would find him guilty (if it can be proven he was actually abusing power) and punish him accordingly.

Is this serious/i hope you can share us the link about this but really i am shocked seeing this kind of issue.

And if this is true then the man really dope the situation and making too much money in His 6 months time.


I will sentence Him to lifetime as he really abused power and initiate insult to the department,Imagine why not make your own
 mining outside the Building since
 he is capable of anything.

each country, has different laws and laws.
Every country has different rules, however, in general if cases against the law "abuse power" there are two options that can be categorized as [1] objective law & [2] subjective law, in this case it can harm the state and can also be categorized as breaking the law and can also be included in subjective law.

If, the defendant is proven in court of "abuse of power" and if, is involved in (two) elements: bribery and fraud, for personal gain and his own benefit, then: 'unofficial profits from the state' of these crimes are classified as threats, imprisonment and paying fines, based on the laws set by certain countries.

I think there was government acceptance issue of mining and everybody should follow their government rules. Thought we think that its better for us but until government permission we can not deal this kind of work. Yes in maximum country now people doing this without government permission but that should not be publicly even my county also some people was arrested who posted in social media about crypto currency or mining.

thanks.

Testing mining with a few devices for educational purpose is a different thing but the chief of Russia post seems to be running a farm with government's electricity. These cases are not new as we've heard of people setting up farms on mosque in Iran for free electricity and even the NSA's supercomputer being used to mine coins.

It depends on the law in their country, seeing that they were very strict when it comes to this matter, and if running a crypto mining is prohibited and their suspicion was prove to be real, then that former chief will have to face the consequences depends on how it was stated by the law.

Including also to the company's law of taking advantage of their properties for doing things not related to the company's mission and vision.

I don't want to think how the setup is but with what he's done, he's brought his career into the pit. That will bring him a very bad record and no settlement from the company even if he has served the sentence given to him. Could also lead him to be banned by future company's that he'll apply to.

Can never really understand these translated stories. Arrested on suspicion isn't the same as guilty, but how did he exactly steal the electricity. If he really ran up that bill in only six months of operation, that sounds like either power's really really cheap in Russia (I'm sure it is but not that cheap) or his "rig" was an old laptop. $11 a month is basically less than 40 cents a day.

If I were the judge then I will put him on guilty because he is an official and he is serving the government, mining could've been his hobby but he is using a government property thus he should be guilty, plus the state are trying to protect their government cyber infrastructure and with the mining farm seen as a threat that will compromise, he also breached the work ethics which is using your workplace as a base for personal operation. So, he is guilty in my opinion.

i think it is better to be bring to justice because he abused the power vested in Him using the government establishment (that owns by the citizen)
 and obviously for His own proceeds and here is the link

https://www.sharecast.com/post/cryptocurrencies/russian-police-arrest-former-post-office-branch-chief-for-mining-crypto-at-work--7524847.html

actually i support His action towards mining Crypto but the problem is He made this in wrong way in which not tolerable .

Definitely he is going to end up in jail but i am not sure for how long as I am not the one who knows much about law. Although he is accountable of 432 USD to the authorities but yes its the theft of Government resources because it is not related to your job to mine BTC while working for government departments. I think he was running 1 or 2 rigs and you cannot say he was running a farm because if it was the case the cost of energy could be much more than $430.

It's very disappointing that someone in a high position that called himself a crypto enthusiast would violate an office rule like that. Knowing well that government frown upon the word crypto and yet you used government resources to carry out your activities. Now, the odds of him getting out of this case is very low because it's theft. He should be punished.

Yes it can be a crime because that person uses facilities that are not his right for personal gain. That can be considered abuse, even theft. Especially if cryptocurrency-related activities are prohibited in the country. One lesson we can take, crime can occur because there is an opportunity. In addition, positive things can have a negative impact if the people involved use something that is not their right or illegal.

That's true, he shouldn't have done that for his own benefit,

Maybe he thinks that just because he is a former chief of Russia means that he's free to use the facilities that are not his own. But we all know that crimes like this have consequences. His actions should not be tolerated.

Such cases are very common.In my country,some thieves were running crypto mining  farms in distant villages or in the forest,stealing electricity from the "national electric system" by cutting the cables and somehow connecting their mining equipment to the high voltage electricity.
If I was a judge,I would definitely sentence those thieves to jail.Such cases create a bad image for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general.In some countries,crypto mining might get banned due to the abundance of criminals,who are stealing electricity.

As much as we would not like to protect a miner or another cryptocurrency user, there are laws anyway and a citizen of his country must adhere to these laws so as not to have problems with the state. if the owner of the Mine will place all his equipment on his personal or rented territory, while paying for electricity from a personal account, then it is very difficult to attract the attention of law enforcement agencies, even if there are not too strict laws to regulate cryptocurrency mining. But if the mine was located on state territory and state electricity was used, then this guy cannot be envied, because in any case he will be responsible before the court for theft and abuse of office.

And this would make government more strict with workers using their resources. I think the Russia government doesn't stop the use of cryptocurrency and maybe that gave him some motivation to use his office electricity thinking it won't be a big case like this one if caught.

I have tried this same Mining strategy in Our Office once,together with my friend our IT ?we hide our Mining rigs inside the IT room in which He is the one whos responsible but we stopped after months of operating for a reason of risky and if our bosses finds out then for sure we will be kicked and may face charges .

But about the Russian postal chief?this is not the right way that a government official abused His power and make this Huge mining inside the premises.

I don't know about this particular case (and it would be helpful if you linked the sources in your post), but it's probably true. There was a similar case in my country before, and I think those people went to prison. What can I say, a crime is a crime. If one's using the state's resources for personal gain, one should be prosecuted. Corruption and power abuse are things that eat countries inside out, and it's important to fight people who encourage it.
From the articles I've found, it seems like the event happened a month ago, but I don't know the outcome.

That's absolutely not correct, such a high profile individual to condescend so low and not be able to use his resident for mining cryptocurrency. He has the funds to install these equipment in his personal resident but choose to use the government properties for his gain. Russia government are likely to get him jail for using the government facility for his gain. Also, this can be seen as a power drunk government worker who won't consider the poor masses but only for himself and families. 

I no just little about law through watching movies and being a witness to court cases but I'm sure that this is a multiple crime on different level because crypto mining is being guided heavily by regulations in every country, so the chief running it secretly in official office means he didn't get any legal approval which a criminal case already... The fact that he's running it in an office make more of a crime because mining rigs are to in industrial settings where not much people come around

I ain't sure his act was condescending. I bet he knew the consequences of his action before indulging it. Why steal government time, space and resources to run your own business? Perhaps he thought he was in a lawless continent like Africa where people who are paid salaries from government revenue think they can lord it over others by doing whatever they want while in office and get away with it. He should do the time since he did the crime. Russia is a country with strict policies on obedience to rules.

Back in 2016 when I was working in a small call center company my boss seem's to be interested in crypto and they knew that I was earning on Bitcoin,
There was a rumor about my boss wanted to hire me to set up the mining rigs and watch over it but the company owner doesn't know about it.
Luckily it didn't really happen I would surely be just like this guy if it ever become real.

The former branch chief is suspected of illegally installing and mining cryptocurrencies with “professional hardware” using the company power grid for nearly six months, according to a report published by a local news outlet RNS

I thought that the bitcoin is legal already in Russia? What is the issue about using professional hardware if the bitcoin and crypto currencies are already legal from their country? I couldn't get the point?

People are joining with crypto currency in huge amount but in some country, government are not accepting it as legal and for this reason, police are arresting people who are involve with crypto currency.

I keep wondering, why is it that when someone is given the opportunity to head an office or firm, he will try to use it as an advantage to his own favor to steal or go against the company policies.
He deserve to be punished. Human beings with greed everywhere

What the heck is this guy even thinking?
Why would you even try to mine crypto on your work place?
I don't know if this guy is alright or if he is just too greedy to even do it,
But he could just set it up on his own place why would you even use your work place to do it,
Just thinking about risking my own job to earn extra is scaring me a little .

And what has legality to do with stealing power?

You can have a legal tesla car and charge it by hooking up to your neighbor's power meter. In will not be legal and you will pay a fine if they catch you.

Mining is legal. Mining at work without having a permit for it is illegal. Stealing power is illegal. Also this was a fire risk.

Why indulging in something that will end in a mess? Now cheating on Goverment is a punishable offence which he must face squarely.

That's the issue here, that individual was using government's energy resources for his own benefit. That's where he made a mistake. And I am guessing he is not the only one using company resources for their own agenda. Definitely, there are still individuals out there who are not yet caught by their illegal activities. There should be punishment on this even if he is a high ranking official. But sometimes, when the smoke clears up, they will just negotiate under the table, when media is already out of the preying eyes. Are they going to show to the public what will be the verdict on his case?

If you work in an office, you have to follow the rules and regulations of that organization and you have to follow the rules and regulations of the state. No one is above the law. The person concerned has been running a crypto mining farm inside the office for about six months without heeding the law and has committed a crime under the law of that country, so he has to suffer the punishment he deserves, there is nothing to say here.

Power abuse is quite common in my country. Here we've got free electricity for agricultural purposes. Most of the mining farms were running on free electricity, and these farms were also owned by the politicians. As in the OP more number of similar issues have happened around. Government offices have got high power systems, and that's the reason for more such usage on mining.

If I'm provided with the chance of judging I'll just calculate the average power consumption before the usage on mining and the after value. According to that I'll make an average calculation and give penalty.

Who here is abusing power, you mean those that arrested or the person that was mining bitcoin in his office? First of all, assume that you own a business and you discover that one of your staff is doing something else that they are not meant to be doing in the office, what would he your reaction? For sure you’re not going to be happy about that.

There is nothing wrong with mining Bitcoin, although it’s illegal in some countries (I don’t know about Russia) but I don’t think that mining Bitcoin is something you should be doing in an office that doesn’t belong to you. If you want to mine Bitcoin, wouldn’t it be best that you set up your own place where you will mine Bitcoin without having to bother about anyone interfering with your business?

Using the facilities where we work for personal gain is unforgivable, this is tantamount to corruption. Moreover, abuse of power
often happens, running a crypto mining farm will certainly make electricity bills soar. What is this person thinking by doing that
in the office, of course sooner or later someone will find out. Of course, if I am a judge, I will send a sentence of 2 years in prison
and oblige to pay a fine for office losses for 6 months running a crypto mining farm. Especially reimbursement of electricity bills.

it doesn't matter how much power/energy he consumed, he did a crime. Unexpected act from a high profile. May be he should  pay the electricity bill with 300 to 500% extra as a fine. It is illegal to use people's asset for personal benefit. Who knows may be There are other miners there who are doing the same. May be he operated multiple mining operation in other places too. Mining is not illegal but if you steal others electricity to mine, that is certainly a crime as you dont pay the electricity bill. People does not care about their positions, dignity. only approx $500 raped him hard. Sad

Your verdict is considerable, this person needs to learned his lesson this way so no one will repeat the same thing, it will serves as example
for those people who are doing the same and for those who are planning to it as well.
It's not hard to know about what his doing, the power consumptions from his company will rise automatically, no secret about that with mining
facilities. He will now regret this wrong deed but it's already late he needs to face whatever verdicts he will get from the judges.

Exactly and we are sharing the same thought. When you already know that you must not be running a crypto mining farm but still you did, it takes no judge nor attorney to defend and decide what would be your fate since in an obvious manner you know by yourself that you abide the law by doing such actions that you supposedly not be doing inside work that is not related into your job for it is being abusive and making use of the resources provided by the office your are working with.

This will surely result of getting into jail even if the trial to hear out the defense is not yet being held. If the justice would be fair to everyone, indeed the former chief of Russia will be put behind bars for doing an action he know he must not be doing inside work's vicinity and at time of work that is clearly abiding the law. People must learn that no matter what your position is, justice must remain fair to everyone so the former chief must face the consequences of his act for what he have done is a clear abuse of power.

If he was using resources meant for other things that is bad. If he was using resources just there being wasted then I don't see the problem though its probably better to not run these kinds of programs on such important computers. I mean someone could gain backdoor entry. If they can run mining software what else can they run?

I don't want to ever be a judge. Putting people in jail is sick. I wouldn't know what to do. Fire them? Make them pay a fine? Will it even help? Putting them in jail is stupid. They not violent.