Bitcoin mining syndicate busted following arrest of two Chinese illegals

KUALA LUMPUR: A Bitcoin mining syndicate was busted by the Immigration Department following the arrest of two Chinese nationals in charge of the operation in Cheras on Jan 19.

Immigration director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said that the two Chinese nationals, 28 and 33, who worked as caretakers and Bitcoin machine repairmen, were arrested during a raid on a business outlet following a month of intelligence gathering.

“Both men failed to produce any valid travel documents, believed to be kept by an agent,” he said in a statement on Saturday (Jan 20), adding that RM12,600 in cash, 30 Bitcoin machines, two Bitcoin cooler machines, two computers, a laptop and two units of testing equipment were also seized.

The syndicate was said to be conducting illegal bitcoin mining operations behind a business front offering tinting services to elude the authorities, Ruslin said, adding that the two men have been detained at the Putrajaya Immigration Depot for offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963.

In a separate development, a Bangladeshi acting as a middleman for foreign workers was among six foreigners arrested by the Immigration Department at a premise in Ampang, Selangor, on Jan 17.

Ruslin said that 16 individuals were checked during the operation, and six, five Bangladeshi men and an Indonesian woman, 27 to 56, were arrested for having expired temporary working permits, with 91 I-Kads (foreign worker cards), 561 Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Cards, 42 foreign national passports, 33 company stamps and 27 files containing company information, along with RM740,050 in cash seized.

The six foreigners were arrested for suspected offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963 and have been placed at the Putrajaya Immigration Depot for further investigations. – BK