The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has opened an investigation into the state pension fund KWAP for a $40 million investment in the Indonesian startup eFishery, which collapsed following a $300 million accounting fraud.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has turned its attention to the state pension fund Kumpulan Wang Persaraan Diperbadankan (KWAP) over a failed investment of 163.4 million ringgit (around $40 million) in the Indonesian agricultural technology startup eFishery, which collapsed after a multimillion-dollar accounting fraud was uncovered.
According to MACC spokesperson Abdul Halim Aman, an investigation team was established on July 17 to analyse the case. “The investigation will be conducted fairly, transparently, and objectively, in accordance with current legal regulations,” he stated in a press release, urging the public to avoid speculation so as not to hinder the process.
The eFishery fraud: from unicorn startup to bankruptcy over $300 million
eFishery, which provided automated feeding systems for fish and shrimp farmers in Indonesia, was valued at over $1 billion. However, in April 2026, its founder Gibran Huzaifah was sentenced to nine years in prison after admitting to falsifying the company's accounting records for years.
The internal investigation revealed that eFishery systematically inflated its revenues and profits between 2018 and 2024, resulting in actual losses worth hundreds of millions. The scandal has implicated major investors such as SoftBank Group and Temasek Holdings, who also lost part of their investment.
“KWAP is a minority shareholder, while the majority of the company's shares belong to other investors, including several large global investment institutions also affected by this misconduct,” the fund stated in a release.
The Malaysian fund has assured that it continues to “apply all possible measures to maximise the recovery of its investment,” although it has not detailed how much of the lost capital it might recover.
The MACC investigation: transparency and oversight of public funds
The opening of this investigation highlights the processes of due diligence and post-investment oversight of Malaysian public funds. KWAP manages over 195 billion ringgit in assets (around $47 billion) and is one of the largest institutional investors in the country.
According to sources from the fund, by the end of 2025, KWAP had already announced a strengthening of its strategy in the private market, including “portfolio diversification and better post-investment oversight to mitigate future risks.” However, the investment in eFishery, which represented a 2.51% stake, was made prior to those changes.
For investors and fund managers, this case serves as a reminder of the risks of investing in high-growth startups without independent accounting verification. The MACC has not provided a timeline for concluding the investigation but has promised transparency in the process.
Meanwhile, those affected by the fraud—from small shareholders to large funds—hope that authorities can recover some of the lost money. The bankruptcy of eFishery has left a bitter lesson about the need for rigorous audits in the Southeast Asian entrepreneurial ecosystem.
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