Crypto mining operation discovered in Massachusetts school crawl space
Cohasset, Massachusetts: A former employee of a Massachusetts town is facing charges of allegedly setting up a secret cryptocurrency mining operation in a remote crawl space at a school, police said.
Nadeam Nahas, 39, was arraigned on Thursday on charges of fraudulent use of electricity and vandalising a school, but he did not show up and a judge issued a default warrant after rejecting a defence motion to reschedule, a spokesperson for the Norfolk district attorney’s office said.
Cryptocurrency mining operation in school.
Nahas pled not guilty to the charges, local media outlet WCVB reported.
Crypto mining, the process of validating cryptocurrency transactions and creating new cryptocurrency, consumes vast amounts of electricity.
WCVB said the operation stole $US18,000 ($26,000) worth of electricity from the school.
A listed number for Nahas was not accepting messages on Thursday.
Cryptomining in the school’s crawl space.Credit:WCVB
Police responded to Cohasset Middle/High School in December 2021 after the town’s facilities director found electrical wires, temporary duct work, and numerous computers that seemed out of place while conducting a routine inspection of the school, Chief William Quigley of the Cohasset Police Department said in a statement Wednesday.
He contacted the town’s IT director, who determined that it was a cryptocurrency mining operation unlawfully hooked up to the school’s electrical system, Quigley said.
