Indonesia eFishery founder gets nine years’ jail in fraud case

[BANDUNG] An Indonesian court on Wednesday (Apr 29) sentenced Gibran Huzaifah, the founder of aquaculture startup eFishery, to nine years in prison after finding him guilty in a fraud case tied to the company’s inflated financial reports.

The Bandung District Court judges also fined the defendant one billion rupiah (S$74,087).

The verdict marks the conclusion of Indonesia’s most high-profile fraud case involving a startup once valued at around US$1 billion.

Huzaifah appeared in court wearing a white shirt as the judges delivered the ruling, bringing an end to a legal process that began after his arrest in August 2025.

The panel of judges found the 36-year-old entrepreneur of orchestrating financial manipulation at Multidaya Teknologi Nusantara – the legal entity of eFishery– including alleged embezzlement and money laundering tied to misreported company performance.

The charges were brought under Article 374 of the Criminal Code on embezzlement in office, as well as Article 3 of Indonesia’s anti-money laundering law.

After the verdict hearing, which was attended by his family members, Huzaifah said the judges’ ruling did not reflect what had been presented during the previous court hearings, adding that he hoped justice would ultimately prevail.

“My message to young entrepreneurs is to be more cautious. For those who don’t have strong backing or support, it’s better to think things through carefully before making decisions,” he said.

One of Huzaifah’s lawyers said the defence team is still considering whether to file an appeal against the ruling. The court granted the defendant a week to submit an appeal to the Supreme Court of Indonesia.

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The nine-year sentence is slightly lower than the 10-year prison term sought by prosecutors during earlier sentencing hearings.

The case – which rattled investor confidence in the country’s tech sector – stemmed from allegations that the company had significantly overstated its revenues and profits to investors.

The scandal first surfaced in December 2024 when whistleblowers accused eFishery of inflating its financial results for years. An internal investigation later revealed major discrepancies in the company’s reported performance.

From January to September 2024, the company told investors it generated US$752 million in revenue and posted a profit of US$16 million. In reality, the probe found that the firm recorded only US$157 million in revenue during the period and suffered a loss of US$35.4 million.

The revelation triggered one of the biggest corporate scandals in Indonesia’s startup ecosystem and led to sweeping leadership changes at the company.

Following the findings, Huzaifah was removed from his position as chief executive. The company also dismissed its chief product officer, Krishna Aditya, as part of a broader management shake-up.

The fallout also dealt a blow to several prominent investors that had backed the fast-growing aquaculture platform, including SoftBank Group, Temasek Holdings, Peak XV Partners, and 42XFund.