Convenience Mart owner Majdi Mohammad Muhyieddeen was found guilty this week of stealing thousands of dollars worth of electricity from the V.I. Water and Power Authority.
The charges against Muhyieddeen — one count each of meter tampering, grand larceny, operating a criminal enterprise and obtaining money by false pretenses — were filed in early 2009, after WAPA found illegal electrical connections at Majdi Convenience Mart locations on St. Thomas, according to a Justice Department press release.
"The duration of illegal connections ranged from a period of about three months to six years," the release said. "As a result the total amount of monies incurred by…Muhyieddeen in electrical bills ranged well into the thousands of dollars."
WAPA disconnected service after its Revenue Assurance Department found evidence of meter tampering and notified Muhyieddeen, who paid the authority a $1,000 administrative fee to reconnect each of his stores, according to the release.
Stealing electricity is against the law and also poses a real safety hazard, Attorney General Vincent Frazer said in the statement Wednesday.
"The illegal connections posed an extremely hazardous condition to WAPA personnel and any other person who may have come in contact with the breakers in this case, because the connections were not done in accordance with electrical safety procedures," he explained. "Stealing electricity or any other utility is against the law, and those caught doing so will be prosecuted and punished accordingly."
