cohasset

Cryptocurrency Mining Operation Discovered Inside Crawl Space of Massachusetts School

Police said that the mining operation was unlawfully attached to the school's power system

Cohasset Police Department

A former Cohasset, Massachusetts, town employee was set to appear in court on Thursday after being named a suspect in what authorities called a cryptocurrency mining operation that was "unlawfully attached" to the electrical system at Cohasset Middle High School.

Nadeam Nahas, 39, was expected in court after a criminal complaint was issued for fraudulent use of electricity and vandalizing a school, according to Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley.

The investigation into this case began over a year ago, in December of 2021, when detectives were called to the school for a report of a possible cryptocurrency mining operation that the director of facilities discovered in a remote crawl space under the school, police said.

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The director told detectives that he noticed electrical wires, temporary duct work and numerous computers that seemed out of place during a routine inspection of the school, according to police. The department said it found the set up was a cryptocurrency mining operation that was "unlawfully attached to the school electrical system."

The equipment was removed and forensically examined by Cohasset police, with the help of the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service and the Department of Homeland Security, authorities said.

Following a three-month investigation, police identified a suspect as an assistant facilities director with the town of Cohasset, the department's chief said. Police requested a show cause hearing in Quincy District Court, where a criminal complaint was issued for Nahas, according to Cohasset law enforcement.

Nahas resigned from his position with the town in early 2022.

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