Suffolk County Administrator Arrested For Illegal Cryptocurrency Mining

Christopher Naples, an IT specialist in New York’s Suffolk County Administration, is arrested for stealing electricity to mine cryptocurrencies.

According to local media reports, Christopher Naples placed 46 mining devices in several administration offices, where he worked as an IT specialist. The manager is accused of illegal use of electricity on an especially large scale and abuse of office.

Investigators have found that Naples has been engaged in illegal mining of cryptocurrencies since February this year, initially installing ten ASIC miners. The power consumption of these ten devices alone exceeds $ 6,000, not to mention all the equipment involved.

Naples has worked in Suffolk County Administration since 2000. He claimed to be the owner of the mining devices and confirmed that he had been using them for several months. The situation is aggravated by a possible security breach as ASIC miners were connected to administrative computers. The equipment was hidden in the same room as those computers and other equipment that kept the entire county’s infrastructure running.

Naples employees began to complain about slow computers and high temperatures in the premises, which increased by almost 20 degrees. As a result, employees have had to change several air conditioners over the past few months. The violator faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, but at the moment he is released on recognizance not to leave.

In August, Polish police identified an “underground” mining farm in their building. Recently, the Spanish police also discovered more than 100 ASIC miners illegally connected to the power grid.