Who would have thought that the psychiatric hospital for prisoners in Butyrka, popularly known as the Cat House, would become the center of cryptocurrency mining. According to investigators, one of the leaders of the pre-trial detention center was distracted from prison, urgent matters (and he was in charge of organizing the protection of the entire pre-trial detention center), and started mining. Right in the building of the mental hospital, all the necessary equipment was placed, a blockchain was created (a platform on which all calculations and transfer of cryptocurrency take place) and the release of bitcoins was organized.
According to MK, the Investigative Committee is already dealing with the case.
“And in our psychiatric hospital, someone is engaged in mining,” one of the prisoners whispered to human rights activists this spring during the check of the legendary “SIZO” as a member of the PMC.
– In a psych ward?
– Yes.
– Mining?
– Yes!
“Do you even know what it is?”
– You offend! – the prisoner was even upset. – By the way, I am sitting here on the economic article. I also had bitcoins at large …
And yet, it was difficult to imagine that mining (cryptocurrency extraction) could take place in a government institution, where not a single mouse would run without permission. But only later, ordinary employees confirmed that the deputy head of the pre-trial detention center had been fired, and precisely in the “cryptocurrency case”.
So, this is what most likely happened (we emphasize that this is our version, and the official one will be a little lower).
Now the former deputy head of the pre-trial detention center, the head of the security department, Andrey Tsyganov, learned from advanced IT prisoners that you can earn a lot of money on cryptocurrency mining. Moreover, it is quite easy and will not cost virtually anything (although electricity costs will rise sharply). And most importantly: it would never occur to anyone to look for a mining center in Butyrka, and even in a mental hospital. The place is safe in every way. The craftsman (it is possible that there was only one such person, and not a group) painted what equipment and where to buy. As a result, a powerful computer, processors, video cards, etc. were brought into the territory of Butyrka.
And now, in one of the premises, which was once used as a ward-chamber for violent patients, a mining center has been launched. It is difficult to say how many people (prisoners and employees) were eventually involved in this process, how many simply knew about it or at least guessed. According to rumors, Andrey Andreevich himself turned out to be talented, he learned how to earn bitcoins without any difficulty. However, this is not very hard to believe.
Let’s make a reservation right away: in Russia there is no criminal liability for mining. Not so long ago, the Central Bank came up with an initiative to ban it, but officials did not support the idea, but announced the need to regulate the cryptocurrency market in the country. However, cryptocurrencies must be declared and taxes paid for them.
The mining center in the mental hospital did not last long: approximately from November 2021 to February 2022. Someone reported him to the Federal Penitentiary Service, there was a check, and the results were sent to the Investigative Committee. According to investigators, the equipment “ate” electricity by about 9,000 kW with a total cost of more than 62 thousand rubles. It seems to be not so much, but enough to initiate a criminal case under Part 1 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Exceeding official powers”. The minimum punishment for it is provided in the form of a fine (the maximum is up to 4 years in prison).
Meanwhile, advanced prisoners, meanwhile, regret that their talents are not being used for their intended purpose. A lot of IT people and hackers are now sitting in a pre-trial detention center, waiting for their fate for months and even years. “Give us a job! they ask. Give me a computer! In general, it is enough for a good hacker to give a mobile phone with the Internet into his hands. Not so long ago, in another Moscow pre-trial detention center, a prisoner at a meeting with an investigator asked why he was sad. “The scammers stole the salary from the bank card.” “Don’t worry, I’ll be back!” Rumor has it that he did not deceive: he returned everything to the penny.
