A homeowner in Sarawak, Malaysia, is being slapped with a demand of up to RM300,000 (S$91,300) by Sarawak Energy after her former tenant allegedly stole electricity for cryptocurrency mining.
According to Malaysian news outlet Sin Chew Daily, Ms Wang was told that if she does not pay, her power supply could soon be cut off.
Feeling cornered, she sought help from Sarawak Pakatan Harapan and Democratic Action Party (DAP) secretary Michael Kong.
Source: Canva, for illustrative purposes only
Upon receiving Ms Wang’s appeal, Mr Kong arranged for her to visit his law firm so they could address the case together.
Ms Wang shared that her single-storey house is still under mortgage. Several years ago, she rented it out to a tenant from Peninsular Malaysia for RM1,200 (S$365) per month.
The man always paid rent and utilities on time, making her believe she had landed a “good tenant”.
Because of this, she only signed a proper tenancy agreement during the first year of tenancy.
For the next three years, renewals were based purely on verbal agreements, and everything seemed fine at first.
However, things changed last year, when Ms Wang received a letter from Sarawak Energy.
It was then that she realised the tenant had allegedly been conducting large-scale electricity theft for mining operations inside her home.
Now, she finds herself saddled with nearly S$91,000 in outstanding charges.
Source: Sin Chew Daily
Mr Kong blasted Sarawak Energy’s actions as “unreasonable”, stressing that they had “seriously harmed the rights of an innocent homeowner.”
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Sin Chew Daily and Canva, for illustrative purposes only.