JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesian police have detained the co-founder and former chief executive of agritech company eFishery, Gibran Huzaifah, in connection with a case involving the embezzlement of funds, the police-run website Tribratanews reported late on Monday.
Gibran has been named a suspect and has been in detention since July 31, the report cited Helfi Assegaf, director of special economic crime with the national police, as saying.
Police have been investigating the case since 2024, when a complaint was brought against Gibran and another individual identified only by his initial, C, for misconduct at eFishery. The parties that filed the report to police were identified as victims.
eFishery’s board suspended Gibran from his position as chief executive late in 2024 amid reports of fraud by certain members of the company’s management.
Earlier this year, the startup appointed business advisory firm FTI Consulting as its new management.
Reuters was unable to contact Gibran on Tuesday.
In an interview with Bloomberg published in April, Gibran admitted to manipulating eFishery’s financial statements, but denied stealing any money.
eFishery’s investors include Japan’s SoftBank and Singapore’s Temasek.
(Reporting by Gayatri Suroyo and Stefanno Sulaiman; Editing by David Stanway)
