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The Department of Homeland Security assisted in tracking the mining rig’s origin.
Thousands of dollars worth of electricity were stolen from a local middle/high school by a former employee of Cohasset, Massachusetts, to run a cryptocurrency mine in an overlooked crawlspace, prompting police concern when the suspect failed to appear in court and did not appear.
Police then issued a warrant for the accused, Nadeam Nahas, 39, who resigned from the Town of Cohasset last year. According to Cohasset Police Department (CPD) communications specialist Justin Shrair, the warrant was quickly revoked after Nahas appeared in court today.
Shrair told Ars the department cannot share any other new information at this time. As a result of a routine inspection conducted by the director of Cohasset Middle/High School in December 2021, the director discovered electrical wires, temporary ductwork, and numerous computers that seemed out of place, which led him to discover the possible cryptocurrency mining operation.
A range of experts were called in by the director to investigate further, CPD told Ars. Initially, the town’s IT director confirmed that it was a cryptomine “unlawfully connected to the school’s electrical system.” To safely remove the mining rig and investigate its origins, CPD contacted the US Coast Guard Investigative Service and the Department of Homeland Security.
In three months, they investigated Nahas, who was an assistant facilities director for the town at the time. The job involves managing the day-to-day operations of the town’s buildings. WCVB, a Boston ABC affiliate, confirmed that the mining operation had stolen nearly $18,000 in electricity.
It is likely that the cryptomine’s operator was motivated to maximize cryptocurrency gains by negating the costs associated with running the mine. Last year, the White House reported that all the world’s cryptomines consumed more energy than all of Australia. Over the past five years, Cohasset’s electricity costs have exceeded the national average by at least 48 percent, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
According to the CPD, Nahas is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but they found probable cause to charge him with vandalism and “fraudulent use of electricity.”
