IPOH: Barely two months after renting out her shoplot, a hair salon owner ended up with a RM1.2mil electricity bill after her tenant was suspected of tampering with the power meter for cryptocurrency mining activities.
Yen Pit Yun, 43, had rented out the upper unit of her shoplot in Panorama Lapangan Perdana in Simpang Pulai in July last year.
“The tenant claimed they were storing business goods, but within two months, I was informed by TNB (Tenaga Nasional Berhad) that the bill was RM1.2mil.”
She recalled seeing the tenants carrying huge wires over their shoulders on Aug 30.
Yen, who has read news reports about power theft, began to suspect something amiss.
But she was hesitant to confront them, so she lodged a police report instead.
“They moved out two days later and when I entered the unit, I saw that it was a mess, with wires everywhere and holes in the walls,” she told a press conference organised by Gopeng MP Tan Kar Hing yesterday.
Simpang Pulai assemblyman Wong Chai Yi, Astaka assemblyman Jason Ng, and some property owners were also present.
Another hapless landlord Mohd Najib Abdul Hadi spoke about his problem after renting out his house in Manjung, Perak in January last year.
He only learned that his house was used for illegal cryptocurrency mining when he received a TNB notice about meter tampering and that the bill had come up to RM86,000.
“I tried contacting the tenant but got no response,” said Mohd Najib, 40, who lives in Taiping, which is about 90km from Manjung.
“When I inspected my house, it was in a terrible state,” said the retired army personnel.
All the victims have lodged police reports. Many of these landlords have received notices from TNB and legal notices while others were asked to appear in court.
Tan said about 60 homeowners and shoplot owners have fallen victim to illegal electricity connections by tenants engaged in cryptocurrency mining activities.
The total claims range from RM30,000 to as much as RM1.2mil, he said.
“The property owners are outraged as it’s not their fault.”
Tan urged the Energy Commission and relevant authorities to take action against illegal cryptocurrency activities.
“Amendments to the Electricity Supply Act are needed to protect the rights of consumers or account holders,” he added.
Tan said that most victims received hefty bills for illegal electricity connections, adding that fake identities were used to open TNB accounts without the homeowners’ knowledge.
“Immediate steps should include amending the Electricity Supply Act to ensure joint responsibility between homeowners and tenants, creating a central rental database to monitor high-risk tenants, and TNB offering structured repayment plans to ease the victims’ burden.”
He advised homeowners to change the details in their TNB accounts to the name of their tenants to avoid such problems.
