Three former senior executives of eFishery – including co-founder Gibran Huzaifah, Angga Hadrian Raditya, and Andri Yadi – have reportedly been detained by West Java police over suspected financial data manipulation, according to a report by DealStreetAsia.

The reported detentions follow an internal investigation by FTI Consulting, which found indications of falsified financial records, suspicious transfers, and data manipulation involving several executives.

Huzaifah admitted to Bloomberg that he inflated eFishery’s financial numbers but denied stealing company funds, saying the adjustments were made to help the company survive.

The internal report indicated eFishery told investors the company had made a profit of US$16 million, with revenue of US$752 million from January to September 2024, while the actual figures showed a loss of US$35.4 million and revenue of US$157 million.

FTI Consulting’s findings were based on staff interviews and reviews of internal communications.

The investigation is ongoing, while authorities have not disclosed further details.

🔗 Source: Katadata

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Startup metric inflation creates dangerous funding cycles that eventually collapse

eFishery’s dramatic overstatement of financial performance follows a troubling pattern seen across the startup ecosystem where companies inflate key metrics to secure funding rounds.

The company reported $752 million in revenue when actual revenue was only $157 million, and claimed 400,000 fish farmer partners while having just 24,000—inflating figures by 75% and 94% respectively [Original article].

This mirrors the 2018 collapse of education startup Yogome, which raised $36.5 million before shutting down amid allegations that it had inflated download and sales metrics to maintain investor interest 1.

Gibran’s admission that he “polished” numbers after discussing with other startup founders suggests this practice may be more widespread than publicly known, creating an ecosystem where inflated metrics become normalized survival tactics.

The problem compounds over time as startups need increasingly larger funding rounds to bridge the gap between reported performance and operational reality, eventually reaching unsustainable levels that trigger investigations.

2️⃣ Indonesia’s rapid financial digitization exposes regulatory gaps in startup oversight

The eFishery case highlights how Indonesia’s quickly evolving startup ecosystem has outpaced regulatory frameworks designed to detect and prevent financial misconduct.

Recent eFishery developments