MIRI – The police and electric utility company Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) have uncovered two houses here that were being used for illegal cryptocurrency trading by syndicates.
These houses used up large amounts of illegally tapped electricity from the public wiring system daily, triggering frequent blackouts in the residential estates of Desa Bahagia and Senadin on the outskirts of Kuala Baram.
The utility company and police, during their investigations into these blackouts, traced the root cause of the power outages to two different houses, one in Desa Bahagia and the other in Senadin.
SEB in a statement today said the enforcement units found illegal power connections linking the public power grid to dozens of cryptocurrency machines in these two houses.
“We have seized 74 cryptocurrency trading machines plus other gadgets from those inside the houses.
“These activities had caused frequent blackouts to the whole residential estate,” it said.
SEB has lodged police reports and the suspects in the houses are being investigated for stealing power and operating illegal currency trading businesses.
Cryptocurrency operators use electricity non-stop daily in their round-the-clock activities.
They can consume large amounts of electricity to the tune of even more than a million ringgit.
On May 20, the police and Sarawak Energy Bhd successfully busted two major illegal cryptocurrency trading syndicates in Kuching. Their operations were extensive, using up to RM1.4 million worth of electricity. – The Vibes, September 27, 2023
