Indonesian investigators on Thursday named a former education minister and co-founder of Gojek, Nadiem Makarim, as a suspect in a corruption case.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
An Indonesian corruption court on Tuesday sentenced former education minister Nadiem Makarim, co-founder of ride-hailing and payment services giant Gojek, to 10 years in prison for corruption.
Makarim was found guilty in a case related to the purchase of Google Chromebooks for schools under the country’s control education digitalization program which ran from 2019 to 2022.
Minister of Education from 2019 to 2024, Makarim was also fined 1 billion Indonesian rupiahs ($55,870) and ordered to pay 809.6 billion rupiah in compensation. He faces an additional prison term of five years if he does not repay the amount.
Prosecutors had requested an 18-year prison sentence for Makarim, a fine of one billion rupiah and restitution of 5.6 trillion rupiah.
Indonesian Attorney General Names Makarim as Suspect in September 2025alleging that he and other officials steered technical specifications toward Google products as part of the education digitalization agenda.
In February 2020Makarim met with representatives from Google Indonesia to discuss Google products, including Chromebooks that could be used by the ministry and students.
“During several meetings, it was ultimately agreed that Google’s products, namely ChromeOS and Chrome Devices Management (CDM), would be used as part of a project to purchase information and communications technology (ICT) equipment,” prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors said this was despite a 2019 assessment by the previous education minister concluding that Chromebooks could not be used effectively in various parts of Indonesia, including remote areas.
They alleged that Makarim then issued technical instructions containing specifications that matched only the ChromeOS system, helping to ensure that Chromebooks would qualify under the procurement process.
Prosecutors said The lower spec Chromebooks should have cost around Rs 3 million each, but were purchased for around Rs 6 million per unit.
They also said Google’s investment in the parent company of Gojek influenced the purchase of the laptops.
“The facts of the trial also revealed an alleged conflict of interest, in which there was an investment and commercial debt relationship between the technology provider and the company owned by the defendant, thereby creating an unhealthy symbiosis in the acquisition of state assets,” said prosecutor Roy Riady.
Google denied the allegationsclaiming that the bulk of his investments in Gojek-related entities took place before Makarim’s appointment as education minister.
“We did not offer, promise, or provide any benefits to Department of Education officials in exchange for their decision to adopt Google products.”
The case is among the highest-profile corruption prosecutions involving a former Indonesian minister.
— CNBC’s Syazwani Sanep contributed to this report.
