Founder of eFishery Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison

The Bandung District Court in West Java has sentenced the former boss of the startup eFishery, Gibran Huzaifah, to nine years’ imprisonment. Gibran was found guilty following the manipulation of financial reports leading to money laundering offences. In addition to the prison sentence, Gibran was also fined Rp1 billion, with a subsidiary 190 days’ imprisonment. “The court hereby sentences the defendant to nine years’ imprisonment,” said the chief judge while reading the verdict at the Bandung District Court hearing on Wednesday (29/4), quoted from detikJabar. The sentence handed down by the judge is lighter than the demand from the public prosecutor (JPU). The prosecutor had previously demanded a 10-year prison sentence and a fine of Rp1 billion, with a subsidiary 190 days’ imprisonment. The judge stated that Gibran had legally and convincingly committed the criminal offence jointly as per Article 374 of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) first of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 64 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code in the first alternative second indictment. After reading the verdict, the judge allowed Gibran and the JPU to provide responses. Both parties agreed to take time to consider whether to accept or appeal the case. “We will consider it, Your Honour,” said Gibran in the courtroom. In this case, Gibran was not alone. He was a defendant along with Angga Hadrian Raditya and Andri Yadi. The case ensnaring eFishery first came to light following a report from a whistleblower. Initial investigations by FTI Consulting found indications of falsified revenues of nearly USD 600 million over a nine-month period ending in September 2024. Then, on 15 December 2024, the Singapore-based news site DealStreetAsia published a report on the alleged fraud committed by eFishery. The exposure of the alleged fund inflation case surfaced when the unicorn-status startup (valued at over US$1 billion) had recently received Series D funding of US$200 million. This case was uncovered by the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency, which had conducted investigations and inquiries into reports of alleged financial report manipulation at eFishery since early 2024. Based on internal suspicions at eFishery, the financial report falsification was carried out by the former CEO and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) since early 2024.