Malaysian crypto miners arrested after stealing electricity worth $59,665 per month

A report on Wednesday confirmed the arrest of four Malaysian crypto miners, as they were reportedly stealing energy supply to mine digital currencies. The illicit activity was unveiled after a two-day investigation that involved Sarawak Energy Berhad, or SEB, who mentioned that they were stealing a substantial amount of energy but paying an incredibly low fee. 

Malaysian crypto miners pay $238 for a $59,665 electricity supply

As the state-owned power company, SEB, disclosed in the Wednesday report, the investigation was also carried out with the Electrical Inspectorate Unit (EIU) from Sarawak Ministry of Utilities. After two-day of operations, they could ascertain that the miners established and ran their mining operations from four different shophouses.

After checking the monthly bills for electricity supply in all the shophouses meters, SEB mentioned that the bill incurred was only about $238 (RM1000). This was suspicious based on the fact that crypto mining equipment usually consumes a huge amount of electricity. Besides, the machines were operated 24/7, SEB said. 

Miners are likely to face a five-year jail term

Meanwhile, actual calculations from the power supply site revealed that Malaysian crypto miners were incurring a monthly bill worth $59,665 (RM250,000) from all the shophouses. While explaining the price differences, SEB precisely noted:

“At all premises, it was found that unsafe direct tapping cables from the main incoming supply hidden in the gypsum ceiling that were connected straight to the electrical appliances, bypassing the meter and avoiding actual electricity consumption measurements.”

While the Malaysian crypto miners await prosecution, the owners of the shophouses will reportedly assist in the investigation. Following the country’s law, the miners are likely to face five years imprisonment or pay a fine of RM100,000.