Bitcoin mining syndicate busted following arrest of two Chinese illegals

KUALA LUMPUR: Two Chinese nationals were apprehended by the Immigration Department for running a Bitcoin mining syndicate in Cheras on January 19.

Head of Immigration Datuk Ruslin Jusoh stated that the 28 and 33-year-old individuals, who served as caretakers and Bitcoin machine repairmen, were taken into custody after a raid on a business venue, following a month of surveillance.

“Both men were unable to present valid travel documents, which are believed to be held by a broker,” he said in a statement on January 20. Additionally, RM12,600 in cash, 30 Bitcoin machines, two Bitcoin cooler machines, two computers, a laptop, and two units of testing equipment were seized.

It was noted that the syndicate had been clandestinely carrying out illicit bitcoin mining activities under the guise of a tinting service business to evade detection. Ruslin stated that the men have been detained at the Putrajaya Immigration Depot for violating the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963.

In another incident, the Immigration Department arrested a Bangladeshi who acted as a middleman for foreign workers alongside five other foreigners at a premise in Ampang, Selangor, on January 17.

Ruslin revealed that out of the 16 individuals checked, six, comprising five Bangladeshi men and an Indonesian woman aged 27 to 56, were detained for possessing expired temporary working permits. The authorities also confiscated 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.

The six foreigners were apprehended 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. – Bernama