Kresna Graha Investama
An Indonesian investment group that rode a digital-pivot story onto Forbes Asia's Best Under A Billion list — then collapsed into the Kresna Life insurance scandal, criminal charges against its founder, an Interpol red notice, and a 2023 rename to Quantum Clovera Investama Tbk.
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- Location
- Jakarta, Indonesia
- Country
- Indonesia
- Known for
- Indonesian investment holding company; listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (ticker KREN); formerly PT Kresna Graha Investama Tbk, now PT Quantum Clovera Investama Tbk
- Founded
- 1999, in Jakarta, by Michael Steven, as PT Kresna Graha Sekurindo
- Listed
- Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), ticker KREN; securities data platforms record the IPO in 2002
- Peak profile
- Forbes Asia's Best Under A Billion list; 2018 revenue Rp7.2 trillion ($508m), 88% from its tech incubator Kresna Creativentures
- Collapse
- OJK revoked affiliate Kresna Life's insurance licence on 23 June 2023 over concentrated affiliate investments and a failed solvency ratio
- Criminal case
- Founder Michael Steven named a money-laundering suspect by Indonesian police; arrested in Morocco in March 2026 and extradited to Indonesia in June 2026
- Current name
- PT Quantum Clovera Investama Tbk, adopted by shareholder vote on 22 June 2023, effective 25 July 2023
Overview
Kresna Graha Investama is the Indonesian investment group that lived two lives: first as a traditional brokerage that reinvented itself into a Forbes-blessed digital-investment story, then as the holding company at the centre of one of Indonesia’s largest insurance-default scandals. Founded in Jakarta in 1999 by Michael Steven and listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange under the ticker KREN, it spent two decades as an investment bank offering investment management, securities brokerage and underwriting (Forbes India; IDNFinancials). In 2015 Steven launched Kresna Creativentures, a tech incubator and investment division that became the group’s growth driver — and by 2018, with revenue up 2.5 times to Rp7.2 trillion ($508 million), the company had catapulted onto Forbes Asia’s Best Under A Billion list (Forbes India). Within five years, the story had inverted: its affiliated insurer Kresna Life lost its licence over a Rp6.4 trillion default, Steven was named a money-laundering suspect, and in June 2023 — one day before OJK revoked Kresna Life’s licence — shareholders voted to bury the Kresna name and rename the company PT Quantum Clovera Investama Tbk (lap.or.id; OJK).
The digital-fortune years
For most of its history, Kresna was an unremarkable financial-services firm. The 2015 reinvention changed that: Kresna Creativentures invested in Indonesian tech startups, and when the startups were ready to go public, Kresna used its core financial-services strength to manage their IPOs (Forbes India). In 2018, Creativentures accounted for 88% of the group’s Rp7.2 trillion in revenue, and net profit rose 1.5 times to Rp729 billion; the company targeted Rp8 trillion in 2019, with 92% expected from the tech business (Forbes India). Its showcase wins stacked up fast: kiosk operator M Cash Integrasi, backed by Creativentures in April 2017, went public in an IPO oversubscribed ten times that raised Rp300 billion, with Kresna retaining a 13% stake worth about $28 million; NFC, an M Cash subsidiary, raised another Rp300 billion at its July 2018 listing; and the June 17, 2019 listing of Bali Bintang Sejahtera — the company behind Bali United, billed as Southeast Asia’s first football-club IPO — raised almost Rp600 billion against a Rp350 billion target (Forbes India). The group also made two investments (2017 and 2018) in Singapore fintech MatchMove Pay, alongside NTT Docomo Ventures (Forbes India). Kresna’s shares rose fivefold in four years to Rp555, giving it a $715 million market capitalisation at the time of the Forbes feature (Forbes India).
The Kresna Life collapse
The unraveling centred on the affiliated insurer, PT Asuransi Jiwa Kresna (Kresna Life). After policyholders reported unpaid claims, OJK froze the insurer’s business in August 2020 over Rp6.4 trillion in obligations it could not meet, then — after ten rejected financial-rehabilitation plans — revoked its licence outright on 23 June 2023 (OJK; lap.or.id). OJK’s stated grounds were damning for a group holding company: examinations found Kresna Life’s insurance funds concentrated in shares affiliated with the Kresna group, liabilities recorded below their true value, and a solvency (risk-based capital) ratio below the regulatory floor (OJK). The controlling shareholder never injected fresh capital — OJK noted that payments presented as shareholder responsibility came from Kresna Life’s existing assets — and a proposed scheme to convert policyholder claims into subordinated loans collapsed when most policyholders refused (OJK). OJK simultaneously issued a written order to certain parties to compensate Kresna Life for losses caused by their actions (OJK). The day before the revocation, on 22 June 2023, shareholders of the listed parent voted to rename it PT Quantum Clovera Investama Tbk, effective 25 July 2023 (lap.or.id; Simply Wall St).
The founder’s legal arc
Michael Steven — the founder who had reinvented the company — became the target of the criminal case. In 2023 the Indonesian National Police’s Directorate of Special Economic Crimes named “Michael Steve,” identified as the owner of Kresna Group, a suspect in a money-laundering investigation (Indonesian National Police). The charges spanned the Capital Market Law (Article 103 in conjunction with Article 30 of Law 8/1995), embezzlement and fraud articles of the Criminal Code (372, 378), and the Anti-Money-Laundering Law (Articles 3–5 of Law 8/2020), carrying a maximum 20 years’ imprisonment and a Rp10 billion fine (Indonesian National Police). Police alleged Steven and three co-suspects issued investment products through PT PUP and PT MSL using PT KS securities without investment-management licences, misappropriating customer funds without consent — with nine investors suffering Rp337.4 billion in losses (Indonesian National Police). Steven fled abroad; Indonesia’s NCB Interpol placed him on a red notice effective 19 September 2025 (lap.or.id). On 12 March 2026 Moroccan police arrested him at Indonesia’s request, and after Morocco granted extradition, he arrived back in Indonesia on 21 June 2026 to face proceedings for alleged capital-market crimes, fraud, embezzlement and money laundering involving Kresna Life, with alleged investor losses of about Rp337.4 billion (jawawa.id).
What this profile does not claim
- It does not claim Kresna Life was a subsidiary of the listed company; the sources describe it as an affiliated company within the Kresna group whose insurance funds were concentrated in Kresna-group-affiliated shares (OJK).
- It does not state the outcome of the criminal proceedings against Michael Steven; as of the sources read, he had been extradited to face investigation by Bareskrim Polri’s Directorate of Special Economic Crimes, and the charges remain allegations (jawawa.id).
- It does not give the company’s current financials, licence status or business scale as Quantum Clovera Investama; the sources read do not independently establish them.
- The founding year (1999 vs Forbes’ 2000) and the founder’s name spelling (Michael Steve vs Michael Steven) are flagged as unresolved discrepancies in openItems rather than silently resolved.
Timeline
- 1999
- Michael Steven founds the company in Jakarta as PT Kresna Graha Sekurindo, a traditional investment bank offering investment management, securities brokerage and underwriting.
- 2002
- The company goes public on the Indonesia Stock Exchange under ticker KREN, per securities data platforms.
- 2015
- The company changes its name to PT Kresna Graha Investama Tbk and, under president director Michael Steven, launches the Kresna Creativentures tech incubator and investment division, which becomes the group's growth driver.
- 2019
- Forbes Asia puts Kresna on its Best Under A Billion list after 2018 revenue surges 2.5 times to Rp7.2 trillion ($508m); its shares have risen fivefold in four years to Rp555, valuing the company at $715m.
- 2023
- On 22 June, shareholders vote to rename the company PT Quantum Clovera Investama Tbk (effective 25 July). One day later, OJK revokes the business licence of affiliated insurer Kresna Life.
- 2023
- The Indonesian National Police name Kresna Group owner Michael Steve a money-laundering suspect over allegedly unlicensed investment products that lost nine investors Rp337.4 billion.
- 2025
- Indonesia's NCB Interpol places Michael Steven on an Interpol red notice, effective 19 September 2025.
- 2026
- Moroccan police arrest Steven on 12 March at Indonesia's request; he is extradited and arrives in Indonesia on 21 June to face capital-market, fraud, embezzlement and money-laundering proceedings.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The founding year is given as 2000 by Forbes India and as 1999 (established 10 September 1999 as PT Kresna Graha Sekurindo) by Indonesian press and filed company documents; the profile uses 1999.
- Indonesian police spell the founder's name "Michael Steve"; press and Forbes use "Michael Steven." The profile treats them as the same person (same role, same case, identical Rp337.4 billion loss figure).
- The precise name-change dates (2015 and 2023) come from exchange-filed company documents mirrored by broker platforms, corroborated by independent Indonesian press; no major newsroom covered the rename.
- The company is now PT Quantum Clovera Investama Tbk, but the profile is filed under its long-established name, Kresna Graha Investama, with the rename documented throughout.
- This profile is not about PT Asuransi Jiwa Kresna (Kresna Life), the affiliated insurer; the holding company's own licence status and current financials are not independently established by the sources read.
Sources
7 sources (3 tier 1, 1 tier 2, 3 tier 3), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
- Supports: Forbes Asia Best Under A Billion; 2015 Kresna Creativentures launch; traditional services (investment management, brokerage, underwriting); 2018 revenue Rp7.2T ($508m), 88% from Creativentures, net profit Rp729B; M Cash Integrasi IPO (10x oversubscribed, raised Rp300B, 13% retained ~$28m); MatchMove Pay investments 2017/2018; NFC IPO July 2018 (Rp300B); Bali United IPO 17 June 2019 (~Rp600B vs Rp350B target); shares 5x in 4 years to Rp555, $715m market cap Open original source
- Supports: Licence revocation 23 June 2023; concentrated investments in Kresna-group-affiliated shares; understated liabilities; solvency ratio below requirements; controlling shareholder never injected fresh capital; SOL conversion scheme failure; written order to certain parties to compensate Kresna Life's losses; OJK cassation over PT Duta Makmur Sejahtera/Michael Steven lawsuit Open original source
- Supports: Michael Steve named money-laundering suspect; charges (Capital Market Law Art 103/30, Criminal Code Art 372/378, AML Law Art 3/4/5); max 20 years + Rp10B fine; co-suspects OB, EH, MTN; investment products via PT PUP and PT MSL using PT KS securities; no investment-management licences; misappropriated customer funds; 9 investors, Rp337.4B losses Open original source
- Supports: Arrest by Moroccan police 12 March 2026 at Indonesia's NCB Interpol request; Red Notice status; extradition granted 12 June 2026, handover 20 June, arrival in Indonesia 21 June 2026; charges: capital-market crimes, fraud, embezzlement, money laundering (TPPU) involving Kresna Life; ~Rp337.4B investor losses; Bareskrim Polri Dittipideksus handling Open original source
- Supports: Red notice effective 19 September 2025 (NCB Interpol secretary Untung Widyamtoko); Steven as ultimate beneficial owner of PT Kresna Asset Management; Kresna Life default Rp6.4T affecting ~8,900 policyholders; founded KREN 1999; rename to PT Quantum Clovera Investama Tbk via RUPS Luar Biasa 22/6/2023 after OJK revoked Kresna Life's licence Open original source
- Supports: Established 1999; IPO 2002; IDX ticker KREN; South Jakarta address Open original source
- Supports: Former name PT Kresna Graha Investama Tbk; name change to PT Quantum Clovera Investama Tbk in July 2023; founded 1999; Jakarta-based Open original source
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