PEA assistant governor and nine staff probed for allegedly taking bribes from illegal Bitcoin miners

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is to ask the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to investigate ten officials of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), including the assistant governor, for allegedly taking bribes from a Bitcoin mining gang in exchanging for allowing them to steal electricity to power their huge server farms.

The DSI said that the illegal Bitcoin operations in Samut Sakhon and Uthai Thani provinces have cost the PEA more than 3 billion baht in lost revenue to date.

A total of 3,642 mining machines and about 19 million baht in cash and bank deposits have been confiscated, said the DSI, adding that the gang and its network had more than 5 billion baht in circulation.

The PEA assistant governor and nine alleged accomplices are facing charges of malfeasance in office and graft.