Two men in Heilongjiang illegally tapped into oil field high-voltage lines for Bitcoin mining, with the main culprit sentenced to 10 years in prison

Deep Tide TechFlow message. On April 3, according to China Newsweek, the People’s Court of Honggang District in Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province recently released a court judgment of first instance. Two men were sentenced for theft after they illegally tapped into an oilfield high-voltage power line to steal electricity for Bitcoin mining. The principal offender, Zhang, was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment and fined RMB 50k. The accomplice, Zhao, was sentenced to 4 years and 10 months’ imprisonment and fined RMB 20k.

According to the judgment, in September 2024, Zhang illegally tapped into the Daqing oilfield high-voltage line from an oil production plant in Daqing and installed 24 Bitcoin mining machines inside a pigsty that he rented and that had been abandoned. In December of the same year, Zhao joined in despite knowing that Zhang was stealing electricity and additionally purchased 12 mining machines. The two operated a total of 36 mining machines. In August 2025, the two were arrested by public security authorities.

After calculation, Zhang stole 565,375.2 kWh of electricity, valued at RMB 438,580.52; Zhao stole 468,060 kWh of electricity, valued at RMB 363,750.78. The court held that both defendants constituted the crime of theft, with Zhang as the principal offender and Zhao as the accomplice. The court also ordered Zhang to make restitution of RMB 438,580.52, and Zhao to bear joint responsibility for restitution of RMB 363,750.78. The mining machines involved in the case and related equipment were handled by the public security authorities in accordance with the law.