Indonesian Start-Up eFishery Defrauds Malaysian Civil Service Pension Fund of Rp 876 Billion

Malaysia’s civil service pension fund, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP), has lost 200 million ringgit (approximately Rp 878 billion) to fraud perpetrated by the Indonesian start-up eFishery. KWAP stated on Saturday (18/7/2026) that it is actively working to recover the assets misappropriated by the aquaculture technology company. The investment represented a 2.51 per cent stake in the start-up, which was once touted as Indonesia’s leading fisheries and food unicorn. KWAP was part of a consortium of global investors from Singapore, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates that provided capital to eFishery.

The founder and former CEO of eFishery, Gibran Hufaizah, was sentenced to nine years in prison in mid-2025 after a Bandung District Court found him guilty of embezzlement and money laundering. The fraud involved maintaining dual internal and external financial records to attract foreign investment. An audit revealed that eFishery claimed revenues of Rp 121 trillion and a profit of Rp 259 billion, whereas actual revenues were only Rp 2.5 trillion and the company was operating at a loss of Rp 573 billion. The fraudulent reporting is believed to have begun as early as 2018.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim addressed parliament, stating that KWAP’s investment had followed proper government procedures, including internal assessments and independent due diligence audits on the company’s legal, financial, and operational standing. Despite this, the Malaysian parliament has demanded accountability from the government, the finance minister, and KWAP management. The consortium of investors, which includes Temasek Holdings, SoftBank, and 42XFund, has initiated legal proceedings and internal investigations to salvage their assets. The scandal has also triggered mass layoffs at eFishery and negatively impacted its local fish farming partners in Indonesia.