Thieves behind Bitcoin mining equipment heist jailed

A gang of thieves from Iceland have been jailed for stealing Bitcoin mining equipment.

Sindri Thor Stefansson was jailed for four-and-a-half years, while Matthias Jon Karlsson and Hafthor Logi Hlynsson were sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison and 20 months in prison, respectively.

The gang stole mining equipment worth $2 million and attempted two other heists between December 2017 and January 2018.

In April last year, Stefansson hit the headlines when he escaped through a window of the low-security Sogn prison in southern Iceland and boarded a flight to Sweden at an airport 59 miles away.

He was eventually arrested in Holland.

At the time, police chief Gunnar Schram told Icelandic news outlet Visir: “He had an accomplice. We are sure of that.”

The theft of 600 computers was described as “a grand theft on a scale unseen before” by Icelandic police commissioner Olafur Helgi Kjartansson.

Four other men were also sentenced, reports English-language news outlet Iceland Monitor.

The men have been ordered to pay $273,000 compensation to IT company Advania.

Iceland is a cryptocurrency mining hub thanks to its cheap energy and cold climate, which helps cool the machines.