Kazan’s Metroelektrotrans employees mined cryptocurrency at the company’s expense.

The Investigative Committee of Tatarstan discovered equipment for mining that illegally consumed electricity, connected to one of Kazan’s Metroelektrotrans transformer substations.

The chief engineer and the head of the energy-management service for ground transport at Kazan’s Metroelektrotrans are suspected in the unauthorized installation of the equipment. The defendants pleaded guilty.

According to the investigation, they placed the miners at the substation in March. Over two months of operation, the cryptocurrency mining devices illegally consumed electricity worth more than 352,000 rubles.

An indictment has been filed against the suspects for abuse of official powers.

The regulatory framework for mining in Russia remains absent and this activity is not officially prohibited. However, unauthorized connection to power grids or theft of electricity for mining cryptocurrency is a crime.

Earlier, specialists from Rosseti Siberia, in cooperation with law enforcement, discovered a mining farm in the building of an abandoned Kuzbass school.

Follow ForkLog’s bitcoin news on our Telegram — cryptocurrency news, rates and analytics.