The Indonesian Financial Services Authority (OJK) announced that peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms partnering with eFishery have stopped providing funding facilities. This move follows allegations of manipulated financial reports by the aquaculture startup.

According to Agusman, OJK's Chief Executive for Supervision of Financing Institutions, Venture Capital Companies, Microfinance Institutions, and Other Financial Services Institutions, the P2P lenders working with eFishery have halted disbursements and are taking steps to evaluate the resolution of existing loans.

He emphasized that eFishery is not a licensed financial services institution under OJK's supervision. However, the authority facilitated meetings between eFishery and its fintech lending partners to address the issue. During these discussions, eFishery expressed its commitment to assisting in resolving outstanding funding based on agreements made with the P2P lending platforms.

Regarding the Letter of Undertaking (LoU) scheme used by eFishery, Agusman explained that this method is commonly practiced in credit distribution and risk mitigation. It involves a Personal or Corporate Guarantee, where a party guarantees payment in case the borrower defaults a concept similar to the LoU applied by eFishery in collaboration with its lending partners.

The controversy emerged after a whistleblower report exposed allegations of financial misreporting within eFishery. An initial investigation by FTI Consulting indicated that the startup had inflated its revenue by nearly $600 million over a nine-month period ending in September 2024.

Despite these claims, eFishery has pledged to cooperate with its partners and work towards resolving any pending financial obligations.

PHOTO: ANTARA

This article was created with AI assistance.