Several landlords in Kuantan say the tenants who paid their rent on time every month were using the houses to mine bitcoin on stolen electricity, and that Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) is now asking the owners to cover the loss. They told their story at a press conference on 17 October 2026, Sinar Harian reported.
Mohd Fadzil Zakaria rented out his new house in Perumahan Penor Makmur 1 for extra income. He said he first received a claim notice for more than RM100,000, which was later reduced to about RM64,000. "Even after the reduction, the amount is still high and beyond my means," he told the paper.
Noor Afiza Rujohan, a 37-year-old trader, let her house in Taman Seri Damai to one tenant two years ago for RM850 a month. She lives in Lipis and seldom visited. She said she learned the house had been raided by the authorities over illegal mining involving large-scale electricity theft, and that TNB has sent her a notice claiming losses over power allegedly taken through an illegal connection. TNB has told her the amount is still being calculated. The tenant also left the gate removed and the ceiling and wiring damaged, she said.
Siti Akmaliah Jamaluddin, 33, rented her house in Gambang Damai in April to a man she believes gave false personal details. He paid through a cash deposit machine, saying he had no bank account. She first heard of the problem through a message from TNB's customer line, which she took for a scam, then went to the TNB office on 4 October. "The criminals have vanished, and we house owners are left carrying the debt," she said.
Muhammad Faiz Hashim, deputy head of UMNO's Indera Mahkota division, who is helping the owners, said nine landlords have come forward so far, from Pahang and also Kedah, Selangor and Terengganu, and that some face claims of up to RM600,000. He said the Pahang Menteri Besar's office told him the matter lies with TNB, not the state, so he is collecting the owners' appeal letters for TNB's management and has raised the cases with the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry through Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Mohamad. He is asking for lower claims and easier ways to settle, since the owners say they did not know what was going on inside.
Harian Metro, reporting the same press conference, put the number of landlords at eight and described the sums as compounds rather than claims for losses. Neither report carried a response from TNB, and no raid dates or arrests were given.
None of the three owners quoted said they knew what was happening inside until TNB or the authorities told them. For anyone letting out a home, the checks that would have caught this cost nothing - meeting the tenant in person, keeping a copy of their identification, visiting at intervals the tenancy allows, and watching the electricity account if it is in the owner's name.
Sources: Sinar Harian, Harian Metro.
