Hundreds of investors across Russia are unable to recover their equipment or funds after Miner Club, a hosting service in the Irkutsk region, allegedly turned out to be a financial pyramid. The company suddenly closed its offices, and its employees became unreachable, leading to a criminal investigation for fraud.
Clients were drawn to Miner Club by its low prices for equipment and electricity, along with positive reviews that were prevalent until recently. Stas, one of the investors, stated that the prices were 10-20% lower than the average, and the company’s presence in multiple cities, including Moscow, gave him confidence.
Many investors are now facing significant financial losses. Stas invested approximately 1.2 million rubles in four machines but only recouped 100-200 thousand rubles. Sergey from Moscow estimates his losses at 2.7 million rubles. Marina from Krasnodar, who used credit money, has lost 1.23 million rubles.
Clients reported that initial operations were smooth, with timely payments and functional services. Yuri from Novosibirsk, who lost about 5 million rubles, mentioned that the service worked perfectly at first. However, problems began to surface around December 2024, with small payment delays attributed to issues with the Scrypt network.
Delays increased, and promises to relocate equipment due to mining restrictions in the Irkutsk region were not fulfilled, leading to further distrust. Sergey noted that payments became manual, and delays grew longer, attributed to supposed difficulties with cryptocurrency exchanges.
By late April, offices in Krasnodar and Novosibirsk had closed, and the Moscow office was sparsely staffed. The company announced an agreement with the Bingx exchange to restore processes, but clients’ attempts to withdraw funds were met with long delays and unfulfilled promises.
Frustrated investors created online communities and stormed the company’s offices, only to discover that their investments were likely in vain. One activist reported, “Guys, I’ll explain: we were buying air! There are no machines, no money.”
Police sealed the head office in Irkutsk on May 12 and initiated a criminal case under the “Fraud committed on an especially large scale” article. A 26-year-old entrepreneur was detained, who confessed that they had sold the clients’ equipment and appropriated the money, creating a false appearance of active mining operations.
Preliminary data indicates that the owners of Miner Club defrauded over 100 citizens for a total amount exceeding 270 million rubles. Affected individuals express minimal hope of recovering their funds or equipment.
Experts emphasize the importance of due diligence before investing in mining hotels. IT specialist Andrey Zhebrun pointed out that Miner Club had suspicious practices, such as accepting equipment only without GPS sensors and imposing colossal fines for contract termination.
Lawyer Yuri Alexandrov advises victims to gather evidence of their equipment’s location and submit a claim to terminate the service agreement. Legal action and bankruptcy proceedings can be pursued, but the probability of recovering funds is low if the company lacks assets.