The Tomsk Kirovsky Court will shortly try two individuals for their attack on another Siberian city resident who made a life by mining bitcoins. They were able to extract coins worth more than 360 million rubles (nearly $4.8 million) from him, according to the Russian crypto news outlet Bits.media.
The crime occurred in October 2021. The attackers targeted the cryptocurrency miner as he was leaving his home. One of them threatened him with a gun-like instrument and dragged him back into his flat.
Then his accomplice arrived, and the two coerced the victim into logging into his account on a cryptocurrency exchange and transferring them 86 BTC from a wallet containing 90 BTC. It’s unclear why they didn’t withdraw the entire balance.
One of the suspects was apprehended and detained by Russian authorities in St. Petersburg. He pleaded guilty and returned the fiat equivalent of a chunk of the stolen digital cash – 35 million rubles (about $479,000 at current exchange rates). The second man was later apprehended.
The attackers have been charged with “robbery committed by a group of persons on an extremely large scale” under the Russian Federation’s Criminal Code. They face up to 15 years in prison and a 1 million ruble fine.
Attacks on those who possess and earn cryptocurrencies are on the rise in Russia. Armed bandits raided a huge mining farm outside Moscow in July 2021, taking dozens of video cards used to mine digital currencies. Also last year, a crypto dealer in the Russian capital was robbed of $1 million in tether.
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