Amsterdam police have arrested Sindri Thor Stefansson, an Icelandic citizen accused of organizing a large-scale theft of bitcoin mining equipment. Six hundred computers were stolen in a series of four raids on data centers across the southern part of the country in February. The stolen equipment, which has not been recovered at the time of writing, is worth $2 million.
In an interview with the Associated Press, local police commissioner Olafur Kjartansson described the raid as a "grand heist on a scale never seen before" in Iceland.
Stefansson was one of 11 people arrested in connection with the theft after energy company HS Orka said it saw "excessive energy use" in data centers due to cryptocurrency mining and verification operations.
Stefansson, who was not considered a dangerous prisoner, was transferred to a minimum security facility in an Icelandic prison, from which he escaped ten days after his imprisonment. According to local media, Stefansson took a taxi to Keflavik International Airport, where he boarded a plane to Sweden under a false name. Iceland's Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir was on the same flight to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Stefansson was arrested in Amsterdam on an international warrant, five days after fleeing Iceland. According to his lawyer, he will return to Iceland to appear in court within the next few days
According to https://www.wikitribune.com
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