Gibran Huzaifah, the founder and former chief executive of Indonesian startup eFishery, has been detained by Indonesian police over suspected manipulation of the aquatech firm’s financial reports, Reuters reported.

The Special Economic Crimes Directorate of Indonesia’s National Police announced on August 4 that it had arrested Gibran on suspicion of embezzlement.

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 the 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. In an interview with Bloomberg, Gibran admitted to manipulating eFishery's financial statements, but denied stealing any money.

The company, which deployed feeders to fish and shrimp farmers in Indonesia, incurred several hundred million dollars in losses between 2018 and 2024, Bloomberg reported. It began unravelling after a board investigation revealed that the start-up may have inflated its revenue and profit over several years. eFishery, which was valued at USD 1.4 billion after a 2023 funding round, had been one of the highest-profile startups to emerge from Indonesia.