US school employee charged for mining crypto with stolen electricity

A former assistant facilities director at Cohasset High School in Massachusetts, Nadeam Nahas, is facing accusations of running a cryptocurrency mining operation within a crawlspace at the school.

Nahas was scheduled to appear for arraignment at Quincy District Court on Feb. 23. However, he did not appear in court or follow the order, resulting in the issuance of a default warrant authorizing law enforcement officers to arrest Nahas.

Nahas is said to have previously worked in the facilities department for the town of Cohasset in Massachusetts. He allegedly stole almost $18,000 worth of electricity to power his cryptocurrency mining operation between Apr. 28 and Dec. 14, 2021.

According to reports, the local police were alerted to the operation for the first time in December 2021, when the facilities director at Cohasset discovered computers, wiring, and ductwork in a crawl space near the school’s boiler room that seemed out of place. Following a three-month investigation, 11 computers were found in the same location, and Nahas was identified as a suspect.

In March of last year, Nahas resigned from his position with the town of Cohasset.

Nahas is one of many people who have been accused of stealing electricity to power cryptocurrency mining operations. In 2021, Malaysia seized 1,720 bitcoin mining machines during an electricity theft crackdown. Law enforcement officials in Malaysia further revealed that they had arrested over 600 people for stealing electricity to mine cryptocurrency over the past two years.

In 2020, a kennel owner in China was also arrested for stealing power to run a bitcoin mining farm, while two brothers were arrested in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in 2016 for stealing electricity to mine bitcoin and grow cannabis.