Authorities in Massachusetts have arraigned a man who allegedly ran a cryptocurrency mining operation out of a crawl space under a high school in Cohasset, a small coastal town about 20 miles outside of Boston. The operation was discovered in late 2021 by a city employee who noticed electrical wiring and temporary ductwork in an “elevated crawl space” near the school’s boiler room.
The narrow crawl space contained what appears to be two sets of specialized mining rigs, one cluster of five and another of six computers, according to photos released by the Cohasset Police Department. The equipment was patched into the school’s electrical system and was placed in several coolers with ducts that vented warm air to the outside.
Police’s main suspect in the crime is one Nadeam Nahas, who worked for the city of Cohasset as an HVAC coordinator and assistant facilities director from January 2021 to early 2022. Court documents say the operation ran from April to December 2021 and cost about $17,500 in electricity. , the Boston Globe reports (opens in a new tab).
In a statement to the BBC (opens in a new tab)said Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley that after the operation was reported by the facilities director, “detectives interviewed the director, who said that during a routine inspection of the school, he noticed electrical wiring, temporary ductwork and numerous computers that appeared out of place.”
Authorities have said Nahas referenced crypto on a Twitter account, and investigators have found receipts for purchases at the hardware chain Home Depot, including “Coleman 48qt coolers, insulated flex ducts, extreme weather wrap, insulation sleeves and a water-based sealant tub. , all items located in the crawl space and is used to facilitate mining,” according to the police report.
At the time of the initial investigation, Nahas and the city’s director of facilities told detectives they had turned off the computers because of the amount of heat being generated. The subsequent investigation that resulted in charges against Nahas involved assistance from the US Coast Guard and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
Nahas was arraigned on Friday 24 in February, where he pleaded not guilty to a pair of charges related to the mining operation: fraudulent use of electricity and vandalism of Cohasset High School. Nahas is due back in court on May 17.
We summarized last year’s news highlights in the crypto space as a series of collapses, failures and outright scammers. I’m glad this year so far has been a contest of the same: this lawsuit, the world’s first crypto energy drink, some beans that got hacked, repainted mining GPUs on the market, and the FBI confirms that, yes, North Korea continues to steal a lot of crypto.
