A landlord recently faced a major financial predicament after being forced to shoulder a hefty electricity bill of over RM800,000.
According to a report by @astro_hotspot, the landlord, identified as Jason, was left drained by the excessive penalty due to a tenant’s electricity theft from illegally mining cryptocurrency.
Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) initially issued a fine of RM1.7 million but reduced it to RM825,000 after four years of lawsuits.
“Why, as a landlord, should I be responsible for the illegal actions of my tenant?” he was quoted as saying.
His ordeal began after renting out his property to the tenant in July 2020. The tenant claimed he “worked with computers,“ as quoted.
Unfortunately, Jason was duped by the tenant, who allegedly connected large power cables to the building three months later, causing the whole building to experience power outages.
After TNB issued Jason the RM1.7 million fine, he immediately contacted the tenant, only to find that the tenant had left without a trace — leaving behind a fake identity after Jason attempted to track him down himself.
Frustrated by the tenant’s unscrupulous actions, the landlord went to the police and submitted the required documents per TNB’s request.
In addition, he sought legal counsel and was advised to wait for a lawyer’s letter from TNB before paying the fine.
TNB finally processed Jason’s case in 2022 and reduced the initial fine by half to RM825,000.
Even though the fine was subsequently halved, he continued to fight his case, as he had to deal with the enormous sum of money. After two years of litigation from 2022 to 2024, he lost the case.
Following four years of lawsuits, his savings had dwindled rapidly, and on top of the RM825,000 fine (which continues to accrue a 5% interest rate), he now has an additional RM36,000 in lawyer’s fees to pay.
Despite the current financial turmoil, he does not plan to back down and has decided to appeal the case. He is considering hiring another lawyer to see if he has a chance to reverse the decision.
