The owner of a “mining hotel” from Irkutsk stole more than 270 million rubles from investors

A man suspected of organizing a fraudulent scheme through a so-called “mining hotel” has been detained in the Irkutsk region.

According to the investigation, the accused, together with two accomplices, attracted clients to place mining equipment in a supposedly existing data center, but instead sold the equipment received and appropriated the money. The total damage to the victims amounted to more than 270 million rubles. A local resident told law enforcement about the criminal scheme. He noted that he sent ASIC miners worth 3 million rubles to the "mining hotel". He transferred money to a crypto wallet for the equipment, but, deciding to personally check the situation, the man went to the company's office, where he had previously signed the contract. However, the office doors were closed, and the contact phone no longer answered - this prompted him to contact law enforcement agencies.

Investigators established that the organizer of the scheme was a 26-year-old individual entrepreneur who opened a data center. He admitted that he and two accomplices sold mining equipment transferred by clients, while partially compensating for the loss of income by crediting small amounts to the victims' crypto wallets so that they would not be active. In addition, the attackers also supplied and sold mining devices, using these operations to steal funds.

As a result of the fraudulent actions, more than 100 people suffered. In this regard, a criminal case was opened. Now the police are interrogating the victims, finding out additional episodes of criminal activity and taking measures to detain the remaining persons involved.

Earlier it was reported that in Makeyevka (DPR) law enforcement officers came across a group of men who organized illegal cryptocurrency mining at home .