Landlords in Perak have been left paying millions of dollars in electricity bills due to a tenant’s illegal cryptocurrency mining

IPOH: More than 60 homeowners and shop owners have fallen victim to multi-million dollar Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) claims over illegal electricity connections by tenants involved in cryptocurrency mining activities.

Gopeng MP Tan Kar Heng reported receiving such cases from residents within Gopeng constituency, as well as from Mangaung and Sitiawan.

He noted that the total claims ranged from RM30,000 to RM1.2 million.

“The property owners are angry, because this is not their fault, and even selling their property will not cover the claims filed by the National Bank of Turkey.

“Under the Electricity Supply Law, the National Bank’s actions are based on the loss of income due to meter tampering. However, the law does not require the National Bank to prove that the registered user committed the act, which could lead to abuse and result in innocent homeowners being held responsible,” he said in Press conference at his service center on January 22: “Huge losses.”

Simpang Pulai MP Wong Chai Yee and Astaka MP Jason Ng were also present.

Tan stressed that while homeowners are the victims, TNB and the nation are also suffering due to power outages and losses.

He urged the Energy Commission and relevant authorities to take action against illegal cryptocurrency activities to prevent further crimes.

He added, “There is a need to make amendments to the Electricity Supply Law to protect the rights of consumers or account holders.”

Tan reported that most of the victims received claims related to illegal electricity connections and that fake identities were used to open TNB accounts without the homeowners’ knowledge.

“Immediate steps should include amending the Electricity Supply Law of 1990 to ensure shared responsibility between homeowners and tenants for electricity consumption, establishing a central rental database to monitor high-risk tenants, and introducing structured payment plans to the National Bank of Turkey to ease the burden of victims.” Suggested.

Tan intends to bring these cases to the attention of the Cabinet in the next parliamentary session in February for further discussion.

He advised homeowners to switch their TNB accounts when renting properties to prevent similar incidents.

Yen Pit Yun, 43, a hair salon owner, was asked to settle RM1.2 million by TNB Bank for electricity consumption. It rented out the upper unit of its store in Panorama Lapangan Perdana, Simpang Pulai, last July.

“The tenant claimed he was storing work items, but within two months, TNB informed me that the bill was RM1.2 million.

“On August 30, I noticed something was wrong when I saw tenants with huge wires. Afraid to confront them, I filed a police report, and they left the house after two days.

“When I entered the unit, it was a mess, there were wires everywhere, and there were holes in the walls,” she said.

Yen claimed that the same tenants moved into nearby store units.

Another victim, Mohamed Najib Abdul Hadi, a retired military man, rented his house in Mangaung for six months starting in January last year.

While living in Taiping, Mohd Najib only learned that his house was being used for illegal cryptocurrency mining when he received a notice from TNB Bank about meter tampering and was owed RM86,000.

He said: “I tried to contact the tenant but did not receive any response. When I inspected my house, it was in a terrible condition.”

All victims filed police reports, several received TNB notices, some legal notices, and others requested to appear in court.