eFishery executive defends innocence as company under investigation for alleged inflation of finances

An executive with Asian seafood startup eFishery is defending himself amid a law enforcement investigation into financial discrepancies related to the company.

Andri Yadi, who served as vice president of product at eFishery, was taken into custody by Indonesian Police along with company founder Gibran Huzaifah and fellow executive Angga Hadrian Raditya. At the time, Indonesian National Police Director of Special Economic Crime Helfi Assegaf said the three individuals “collaborated to carry out fraud and embezzlement on the investment process of eFishery by marking up the investment.” 

Yadi, in a release, said his role at the company was not related to the source of the investigation, and that he is neither a member of the board of directors, nor has he ever been.

“My statement is not meant to defend myself in court but solely to correct the facts so that the public receives balanced information,” he said in a release that was given through his legal counsel.

Yadi said he joined eFishery after the company that he had founded, DycodeX, was acquired by eFishery, and that his position was not related to “personal initiative” but was a result of the acquisition agreement.

“This role did not grant me the authority to make payments or approve investments,” Yadi said. “My focus has been entirely on developing technological products, particularly in the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) at eFishery, in line with the spirit of DycodeX’s acquisition – not on financing,”  

He said that his role was limited to research and development, and that he had no authority to manage financing operations.

Yadi also said that the acquisition process was initially a two-installment payment scheme worth IDR 15 billion (USD 169 million, EUR 145 million), and that before the final payment eFishery requested it become an aqui-hire scheme that would see it take over DycodeX’s team and technology. His legal team claims that through that process, he had no knowledge of the source of funds for the purchase, and that his position with eFishery only started after the acquisition.

“As the seller, Andri Yadi followed the buyer’s requests and procedures without involvement in planning or structuring the scheme,” the release from Yadi’s legal team states. “There were no off-contract fund flows, no cashback, and no additional gains obtained by Andri.”

eFishery is being investigated for allegedly inflating financial statements to dupe investors into funding the company in excess of USD 1 billion (EUR 861 million). An investigation by the company’s board revealed claims it was making millions in profit were inflated, and that it was actually losing money and investments.

The eFishery board hired FTI Consulting Singapore Pte to take over its management in February, saying at the time that the move was necessitated by the alleged misconduct. FTI later went on to say the business was not commercially viable, Bloomberg reported.