KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said the Retirement Fund (Incorporated) (KWAP) was deceived by Indonesian aquaculture startup eFishery after the company manipulated its financial statements, despite the fund carrying out due diligence before investing about RM200 million.

In a written parliamentary reply, Anwar said the decision followed KWAP’s established assessment and governance procedures, based on information available at the time, including financial statements verified by internationally accredited auditors.

He said the investor consortium, including KWAP, had also conducted independent due diligence to verify that the information provided was complete and reliable before committing funds.

“The investment in eFishery also involved several leading institutional investors and international technology funds, including Temasek, SoftBank, 42XFund and Northstar.

“These investors also have internationally recognised investment assessment, control and governance processes,” he said.

Anwar was responding to Wong Chen (PH-Subang), who asked what accountability measures had been or would be taken against KWAP’s board, investment panel and senior management over the approval and oversight of the investment following the losses to civil servants’ retirement funds.

The prime minister said the investor consortium, including KWAP, had already initiated legal action, efforts to recover funds, reviews of internal governance and measures to strengthen investment controls.

KWAP had also completed a comprehensive review of the investment’s evaluation, approval and monitoring processes, with the findings presented to the fund’s board for detailed scrutiny and discussion.

“Following those discussions, follow-up actions have been taken in line with the institution’s governance framework and principles of accountability.

“KWAP remains committed to managing civil servants’ retirement funds transparently, with integrity and accountability. Improvements have already been implemented to strengthen safeguards for future investments,” he said.

KWAP invested US$47.7 million (about RM200 million) in eFishery in July 2023. The startup, which promised to modernise fish and shrimp farming through digital technology, later unravelled amid allegations that its financial performance had been manipulated to attract investors.

Last year, its co-founder, Gibran Huzaifah, was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment by a court in Bandung, Indonesia, after being convicted of criminal breach of trust and money laundering.