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Jofie Yordan · · 6 min readInvestors aware of TransTrack CEO’s guilty verdict before funding
Elyssa Lopez and I Made Sentana also contributed to this story.
Indonesia-based logistics solutions startup TransTrack recently announced its US$12 million series A round, which was co-led by France-based investor Eurazeo and Singapore-based Cocoon Capital.
TransTrack was co-founded in 2019 by CEO Anggia Meisesari and chief technology officer Aris Pujud Kurniawan. It offers an AI and IoT-powered fleet management system as well as transportation solutions for logistics companies.
Following the news of the fundraise, Tech in Asia learned that in 2020, CEO Meisesari was found guilty of fraud by an Indonesian court for her actions between 2016 and 2017. The verdict resulted in a two-year prison sentence.
Anggia Meisesari (left) and Aris Pujud Kurniawan, co-founders of TransTrack / Photo credit: TransTrack
The charge was filed under Article 378 of the Indonesian Penal Code, according to court documents obtained by Tech in Asia. The documents were filed on the Indonesian Supreme Court website in November 2020.
The case centers on a software investment deal in which the plaintiff, Rudolf Naibaho, was promised a “significant profit.” Between 2016 and 2017, Naibaho transferred large sums of money to Meisesari based on promises of profit and guarantees like letters of credit and checks.
At the time, Meisesari served as managing director of Jakarta-based Business Software Solution, which provided IT consulting services. The firm closed in 2017.
The lead investors of TransTrack’s new round were fully aware of this case, which they learned of during their due diligence process. “I have found [Meisesari] to be one of the most inspiring founders I’ve met in the 25 years I’ve been investing,” says Cocoon Capital’s managing partner Michael Blakey.
Meisesari, meanwhile, says she has learned from her past mistakes.
What was this case about?
The case began in December 2016, when Meisesari met Naibaho to discuss a potential investment in a plantation management software she was working on.
Meisesari promised Naibaho a 10% return on his initial investment, saying the deal was safe because it involved a letter of credit (LC) from Bank BJB.
By January 2017, Naibaho had transferred a total of 3 billion rupiah (US$195,000) to Meisesari. She provided legal documents and postdated checks as guarantees for Naibaho’s investment and profits.
However, Meisesari failed to honor the checks, citing delays obtaining the LC. She asked for an additional 2.6 billion rupiah (US$169,000) in July 2017 to resolve “operational issues.” In exchange, Meisesari promised a 40% profit, and Naibaho’s cash infusion grew to over 7.9 billion rupiah (US$514,000).
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Founder Anggia Meisesari was detained from 2020 to 2021 due to a fraud case. She says she has learned from her past mistakes.
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