Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — Indonesia’s startup ecosystem has been rocked by allegations of financial fraud involving eFishery, an aquatech company that achieved unicorn status after securing $200 million in Series D funding in 2023. The company is accused of maintaining two separate sets of financial records, raising serious concerns about corporate governance and transparency in the rapidly growing Indonesian tech sector.
Dual Accounting Systems
According to sources, eFishery operated with two distinct financial ledgers:
- External Bookkeeping: This set of records, allegedly inflated, was presented to external stakeholders, including the board of directors, shareholders, banks, and auditors. It showcased exaggerated revenue figures and profits to create an illusion of strong financial health.
- Internal Bookkeeping: Reflecting the company’s actual financial performance, this ledger reportedly revealed significant losses, contradicting the rosy picture painted in the external reports.
Alarmingly, this dual accounting practice dates back to 2018, suggesting a systemic and long-term fraud scheme involving multiple executives.
Key Figures Implicated
The alleged fraud implicates several high-ranking officials within eFishery, including former CEO Gibran Huzaifah. Other individuals identified by their initials include:
- AHR: Joined eFishery in August 2020, shortly after which he assisted Huzaifah in manipulating revenue and gross profit figures for external reporting. In January 2022, Huzaifah established five nominee companies to facilitate financial flows, with AHR managing bank accounts and tokens linked to these entities.
- TTA: Appointed in January 2021 to oversee internal bookkeeping, TTA reported directly to Huzaifah, maintaining records that reflected the company’s true financial status.
- WK: Joined as a division head in December 2021, reporting to AHR and helping manage the manipulated external financial reports.
Reports suggest that around ten employees were actively involved in or aware of the dual bookkeeping system.
Discrepancies in Financial Reports
External audits of eFishery revealed alarming discrepancies. For the period of January-September 2024, the company claimed revenues of IDR 12.3 trillion ($780 million) in external reports—4.8 times higher than the IDR 2.6 trillion ($165 million) reflected in internal records.
Profit figures also starkly contrasted: external documents claimed a pre-tax profit of IDR 261 billion ($16.5 million), while internal records indicated a loss of IDR 578 billion ($36.5 million) during the same period.
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Beyond financial figures, operational data was also allegedly manipulated. Huzaifah reportedly claimed to investors that eFishery operated over 400,000 feed facilities, whereas actual figures were closer to 24,000.
Implications for the Indonesian Startup Ecosystem
This scandal casts a shadow over Indonesia’s burgeoning startup scene, raising questions about due diligence practices among investors and the effectiveness of regulatory oversight. As investigations continue, the case is likely to have far-reaching implications, not just for eFishery, but for the credibility of the country’s tech industry on the global stage.
(Becky)
