Thinking that it was just an innocent act of renting out an empty space to a tenant, a woman unwittingly fell into the trap of letting the unit be transformed into a cryptocurrency mining operation.
To add insult to injury, she’s now left with a staggering RM1.2 million electricity bill due to the crypto mining and may even go bankrupt because of it.
M’sian woman gets RM1.2mil electricity bill over secret crypto mining activities
Speaking to reporters during a press conference organised by Gopeng MP Tan Kar Hing yesterday (Jan 22), the woman, Yen Pit Yun, said she had a two-story shop which housed a hair salon on the ground floor.
In July of last year, she rented out the upper floor to a tenant that was introduced to her via a property agent.
When August rolled around, Yen saw her tenant hauling heavy electrical cables to the upper unit, which set off alarm bells in her head and prompted her to lodge a police report.
However, the tenant was never caught as he moved out from the unit the very next day.
When Yen went to check on the unit, she was aghast by the level of destruction left behind.
We found it completely empty, with holes in the walls and damaged partitions, resulting in significant property damage.”
Just when things couldn’t get worse, it only continued to turn uglier when Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) sent Yen an electricity bill worth RM1.2 million two months later.
Needless to say, this has left Yen feeling utterly helpless, who lamented, “If installment payments are not allowed, the worst-case scenario would be to declare bankruptcy.”
MP calls upon authorities to intervene
Tan, who was present at the press conference, revealed that aside from Yen, 60 property owners in the area were also affected by illegal cryptocurrency mining, with some getting electricity bills ranging RM30,000 to RM1.2 million.
He called upon the Energy Commission and other relevant authorities to step in and help those affected by the issue and urged for amendments to be made to the Electricity Supply Act so that innocent homeowners will not be held liable.
In response, TNB said its officials are currently working on a plan to engage with affected property owner to find an amicable solution, reported The Star.
It also reminded property owners to submit a Change of Tenancy (COT) request with TNB whenever they rent out their units to new tenants.
Last December, a woman also faced the same predicament after her tenant engaged in illegal crypto mining:
