Iceland - Bitcoin Heist Suspect Escapes With PM’s Plane

Every now and then, a writer comes across a story that you think can’t even be true, but in fact it is. This is one of those stories.

Today, a prisoner accused of robbing some 2 million dollars of computers used for crypto-currency mining equipment fled a prison and then boarded the same plane as the prime minister of the country to get out of the area.

The events took place in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/18312-Iceland-More-Energy-Used-For-Bitcoin-Than-For-Heating

Mr Sindri Thor Stefansson was one of the 11 people arrested for the theft of those said computers and was kept in a minimum security prison from which he escaped by crawling through a window. He then subsequently left Iceland by taking off in the plane that brought the Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir to a meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Sweden.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&#39;Big bitcoin heist&#39; suspect escapes prison and flees Iceland &#39;on PM&#39;s plane&#39;<br><br>Sindri Thor Stefansson escaped through window before reportedly boarding same flight to Sweden as prime minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir<br><br>The suspected mastermind behind the theft … <a href="https://t.co/iwNIsuLThF">https://t.co/iwNIsuLThF</a></p>&mdash; ProgrammingSPK (@programmerspk) <a href="https://twitter.com/programmerspk/status/986585943464390657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Mr Helgi Gunnlaugsson, a sociology professor at the University of Iceland, commented: “Prison breaks in Iceland usually mean someone just fled to get drunk.”

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/18765-Iceland-Proposes-Ban-On-Male-Circumcision-Muslims-Outraged

“The underworlds are tiny and it is extremely difficult to hide, let alone flee the country.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Prime Ministers <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@narendramodi</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/katrinjak?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@katrinjak</a> reviewed the full range of India-Iceland relations during their meeting today. <a href="https://t.co/kSOJL924KB">pic.twitter.com/kSOJL924KB</a></p>&mdash; PMO India (@PMOIndia) <a href="https://twitter.com/PMOIndia/status/986266711363072001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2018</a></blockquote>

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In recent years, and certainly since the Indian and Chinese crackdown on their energy centers being used to mine crypto-currency, Iceland has become a hotspot of for data centres and crypto-currency mining.

The abundance of renewable energy and cold climate mean that crypto-currency now uses just as much energy as the Icelandic population itself (see our related coverage).

Source:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/18/big-bitcoin-heist-suspect-sindri-thor-stefansson-escapes-prison-flees-iceland-pm-katrin-jakobsdottir-plane