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Key Takeaways
- BitRiver founder Igor Runets was moved to pretrial detention over alleged mining equipment fraud.
- Investigators say Fox Group failed to deliver Antminers after receiving a $7.9M prepayment.
- The case adds to pressure from tax charges, bankruptcy proceedings and Russia’s regional mining ban.
A Moscow court transferred Igor Runets, founder of Russia’s largest crypto mining company BitRiver, from house arrest to a pretrial detention facility on July 29 after investigators charged him with large-scale fraud.
The dispute centers on a 2023 contract between Fox Group, which Runets controls, and Infrastructure of Siberia, a subsidiary of En+, the metals and energy group founded by sanctioned businessman Oleg Deripaska.
Fraud Charge Centers on $8 Million Antminer Contract
The Zamoskvoretsky District Court ordered Runets held for at least two months while investigators continue their work. He faces charges under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code, covering fraud on an especially large scale committed by an organized group, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Investigators allege that Fox Group agreed to supply a batch of Antminer units worth more than $8 million to Infrastructure of Siberia. The buyer prepaid $7.9 million against a 32-day delivery window.
According to investigators, the equipment was never handed over and the prepayment was never returned. Damages are estimated at close to 1 billion rubles, roughly $12.5 million.
Prosecutors argued for detention on the grounds of the alleged scale of the fraud and concerns that Runets could influence witnesses. The court also seized his stakes in several companies, including Fox Group and a number of BitRiver entities. Representatives for Runets and BitRiver had not issued a public response at the time checked.
Fraud Case Follows Tax-Related Charges Against Runets
Runets has been under house arrest since late January on three separate charges of concealing funds owed in taxes. Investigators later expanded that probe to include the En+ equipment contract, which had already moved through arbitration. An arbitration court awarded the En+ affiliate approximately 954.4 million rubles over the undelivered contract.
Runets founded BitRiver in 2017 and built the company into Russia’s largest industrial mining operation, eventually running 15 data centers with more than 175,000 servers and controlling over half of the country’s industrial mining capacity. The company was sanctioned by the United States in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Fox Group Filed for Bankruptcy as Mining Ban Hit BitRiver
The equipment dispute was already moving through civil and bankruptcy proceedings before investigators added the fraud charge.
Fox Group, which holds 98% of BitRiver’s authorized capital, entered bankruptcy monitoring in late January over a $9.2 million debt tied to the same unfulfilled equipment contract now at the center of the criminal case. The company filed for bankruptcy after determining it lacked sufficient funds or assets to repay what it owed.
BitRiver also faced pressure after Russia imposed a six-year mining ban across 10 regions in December 2024, citing energy consumption. Several BitRiver facilities closed, and the company accumulated energy debts and lost senior managers. Investigators say the next stage of the case will involve equipment examinations and witness testimony from En+.
