eFishery Shareholders Appoint FTI Consulting as Interim Management

eFishery's shareholders have officially appointed FTI Consulting as the startup’s interim management team. This decision was made to ensure a comprehensive and objective review of the company’s financial condition by an independent third party.

FTI Consulting had previously been engaged to conduct an audit of eFishery following the discovery of financial irregularities. The investigation uncovered alleged financial report falsification by eFishery’s founder, Gibran Huzaifah. As a result, Gibran and former Chief Product Officer (CPO) Chrisna Aditya were removed from their positions in December 2024.

"The company has proactively taken the necessary steps to address this issue, including appointing FTI Consulting as interim management, effective immediately. This decision has been approved by the company’s shareholders," said eFishery’s Board of Directors in a statement to CNBC Indonesia on Tuesday (4/2/2025).

The Board of Directors emphasized that the involvement of an independent third party will help determine the best course of action for the company’s future.

"The engagement of an independent party in management aims to facilitate a comprehensive and objective review of the company's business to determine the best steps forward for the Group."

Audit Reveals Systematic Financial Manipulation

According to documents obtained by CNBC Indonesia, the audit revealed systematic fraud conducted by eFishery's management under Gibran's leadership. Since 2018, eFishery has reportedly maintained two separate financial reports, one for internal use and another for external reporting.

The internal report recorded Rp2.6 trillion in revenue for the period January-September 2024. However, the external report inflated this figure by 4.8 times, reaching Rp12.3 trillion.

A similar discrepancy was found in pre-tax profit figures. The external report showed eFishery posting a pre-tax profit of Rp261 billion, while the internal report indicated a loss of Rp578 billion during the same period.

Beyond financial manipulation, former CEO Gibran Huzaifah was also accused of exaggerating the company’s operational scale to investors. He claimed that eFishery operated over 400,000 feed facilities, while in reality, the actual number was only around 24,000.

Operational Adjustments and Commitment to Corporate Governance

Following these findings, eFishery’s Board of Directors stated that they have adjusted operational costs to align with the company's actual business scale.

"Over the past few weeks, we have had to make some difficult decisions to align operational costs with the group’s real business scale. These decisions were made in compliance with applicable laws and corporate governance principles to safeguard the integrity of the company."

The Board of Directors also acknowledged that this is a challenging time for employees and stakeholders.

"We will continue to act with integrity in addressing this situation and ensure that employees' interests are prioritized in accordance with regulations. We appreciate the support of our employees and all stakeholders during this difficult period."

Temukan berita dan artikel lainnya di Google News