Key Highlights

  • Wang Yicheng faces charges of theft and computer crimes violations for running mining rigs that consumed roughly $28 million in unauthorized electricity from Thailand's state-run Provincial Electricity Authority; investigators seized 6,390 machines.

  • The operation ties into a broader network authorities allege is laundering $300 million per year from online scams and gambling, with eight suspects in total now facing warrants.

  • US authorities separately seized $17.8 million in assets linked to Wang in a digital asset fraud case, indicating the network spans multiple jurisdictions.

Thailand's Department of Special Investigation has issued an arrest warrant for Chinese national Wang Yicheng in connection with an illegal cryptocurrency mining operation that authorities say drained roughly $28 million from the national electricity grid. Wang is currently a fugitive facing charges of theft and violations of the Computer Crimes Act, which covers unauthorized interference with state infrastructure.

Investigators found the operation's mining rigs had run on electricity stolen from the Provincial Electricity Authority, with total losses put at more than 953 million baht. During the raids, authorities seized 6,390 cryptocurrency mining machines spread across multiple facilities inside Thailand.

The arrest warrant for Wang is part of a larger investigation that has expanded into what officials describe as a $300 million per year money laundering operation run through interconnected networks of online scams, illegal gambling, and crypto mining. Thai authorities have issued warrants for eight suspects in total as the probe continues to widen.

Wang's name has come up in US enforcement actions as well. American authorities previously seized assets exceeding $17.8 million tied to him as part of a separate digital asset fraud investigation, suggesting the network operates across multiple countries. The Thai case connects electricity theft on the ground to the offshore financial flows that US investigators have been tracking independently.