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DA Sini says a county worker ran an unauthorized cryptocurrency mining operation out of the county center in Riverside.
DA Sini says a county worker ran an unauthorized cryptocurrency mining operation out of the county center in Riverside. KITTY MERRILL
Christopher Naples, 41, of Mattituck, an assistant manager of information technology operations for the Suffolk County clerk’s office in Riverside, was arrested last week and accused of running an illegal cryptocurrency mining operation out of county offices, costing the county thousands of dollars in electricity over the past seven months.
In simplest terms, mining cryptocurrency means using a souped-up computer to crack a code before other miners do to purchase bitcoins. The endeavor requires the use of costly equipment, like high end gaming devices and uses a great deal of electricity. So much so that mining calculators figure the cost of power usage among other aspects of the operation’s overhead, and can be prohibitive. The website Investopedia describes cryptocurrency mining as “painstaking, costly, and only sporadically rewarding.”
Not if you use utilities at your job, which is what Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini said Mr. Naples did.
“Mining cryptocurrency requires an enormous amount of resources, and miners have to navigate how to cover all of those electricity and cooling costs,” District Attorney Sini said, in a release announcing the arrest last week. Mr. Naples found a way to do it, Mr. Sini said, “on the backs of taxpayers.”
Mr. Naples has been a county employee since 2000. Officials believe he has been using county electricity and internet resources to run the operation. An investigation by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office’s Public Integrity Bureau uncovered enough probable cause for a search warrant and an August 19 search at the County Center resulted in the seizure of 46 cryptocurrency mining devices.
Located in six rooms throughout the building in various spaces, the mining devices were found in such hiding spots as underneath removable floorboards, on top of or inside server racks, and inside an unused electrical wall panel.
In one room, as investigators entered, they heard an alarm sounding because the temperature was so high; the temperature dropped 20 degrees after the devices were shut down. According to the district attorney, the room housed critically important computer servers, secure data storage systems and communications equipment for the entire county government.
“Not only was this operation being paid for with thousands of dollars of taxpayer money, but it also put the County’s infrastructure at risk. The defendant also had to bypass the county’s internet security protocols in order to get these devices online, which could have potentially jeopardized the security of the county’s network,” Mr. Sini said.
At least 10 of the mining machines had been running since February 2021, the investigation revealed. The devices are estimated to cost approximately $4,200 per month each in electricity based on the minimum kilowatts required for their operation and the average cost per kilowatt hour in Suffolk County.
The investigation is also ongoing into the amount and nature of any proceeds of Naples’ alleged cryptocurrency mining operation.
Mr. Naples was charged with felony counts of public corruption, third-degree grand larceny, and computer trespass. He also faces a misdemeanor count of official misconduct. Released on his own recognizance following arraignment before Judge Barbara Wilson in Southampton Town Justice Court on Wednesday, September 8, Mr. Naples, faces a maximum sentence of 5 to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top count.
