SUNGAI SIPUT: Vacant shophouses are being broken into and used as cryptocurrency mining centres without the owners’ knowledge, says Perak police chief Comm Datuk Mohd Alwi Zainal Abidin.
He said the activity was uncovered following four raids at three shophouses in Sungai Siput and another in Seri Iskandar on Monday.
“Bitcoin mining machines were installed and left at the vacant shophouses, with the proceeds transferred online,” he said at a press conference at the Sungai Siput police headquarters.
A 39-year-old caretaker of one of the shophouses was arrested, he said.
At the Seri Iskandar premises, police found no electricity meter supplied by Tenaga Nasional Bhd but discovered an electricity connection believed to have been installed illegally.
Comm Mohd Alwi said police seized 168 Bitcoin mining machines, along with networking equipment and electrical cables, in the operations.
The cases are being investigated under Section 427 of the Penal Code and Section 37(1) of the Electricity Supply Act 1990.
On another matter, Comm Mohd Alwi said the motive behind the death of a foreign woman whose body was found stuffed in a bag in Sungai Perak, near the Lembah Jetty in Kuala Kangsar, had yet to be established.
He said the case has been classified as murder and was being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
“The victim is believed to have drowned. She had been tied up, placed in a bag and thrown into the river. We believe that is what happened,” he said.
It was previously reported that the body was discovered by members of the public at about 4pm on Aug 14.
The victim is believed to be a non-Malaysian as no BCG vaccination scar was found, while a fingerprint search by the National Registration Department in Perak found no matching records.
Meanwhile, Comm Mohd Alwi said police would investigate allegations of gambling-related activities at several premises in Taiping and Bukit Gantang.
“We will conduct an investigation. For your information, action has previously been taken against some of these premises. If such activities are still detected, further action will be taken,” he said.
