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A New York IT supervisor faces a possible 15-year prison sentence for mining bitcoin in the office. The man, named Christopher Napoli, allegedly hid 46 mining rigs in the offices of the Suffolk County Center in Riverhead, New York. According to the investigation, 10 of these rigs have been installed since February, and they consume more than $6,000 in energy. But since there are 36 other machines, the total energy cost could be much greater.
New York man faces jail term for office mining
Christopher Napoli, an IT technician in Suffolk County, New York, could serve up to 15 years in prison for mining bitcoin in his offices. According to reports, the man brought 46 mining machines into the county offices, hiding these under the floorboards. Naples now faces charges of public corruption, grand theft, computer hacking and official misconduct.
Prosecutors state that the machines expended at least $6,000 in energy, with the rooms in which the miners were installed heated 20 degrees, affecting server rooms and surrounding offices. About this, Timothy de Seigny, the Suffolk County District Attorney stated:
Not only do we have thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to fund this process, but it also puts the county’s infrastructure at risk.
County employees also complained about poor air conditioning units, slow internet, and resources being shared and used by the office’s distributed miners.
Power theft is nothing new
This is not the first time that a public office employee has stolen the ability to mine cryptocurrency. There have been multiple cases similar to this case. The New York City Department of Education has cases going back to 2013 and 2014 where employees attempted to mine Bitcoin with company equipment.
An employee of the Federal Reserve also attempted to mine cryptocurrency using one of the institution’s servers. That employee, Nicholas Berthum, was fined $5,000 and spent 12 months on probation. Sene said in a press interview:
We will not tolerate county employees, already on the public payroll, to steal taxpayer money and illegally use government resources for personal gain.
Suffolk County Clerk Judith A. Pascal states that no country records have been accessed or modified due to mining activity.
What do you think about Naples stealing energy to mine Bitcoin in public offices? Tell us in the comments section below.
photo credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wikicommons
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