Former education minister Nadiem Makarim reacting on Ja. 5, 2026, prior to his trial in a corruption case about his involvement in the procurement of Google's Chromebook laptops for use at his ministry and by students, at the Jakarta Corruption Court. - Reuters
JAKARTA: The trial of former education minister Nadiem Makarim opened on Monday (Jan 5), with prosecutors accusing him of rigging a procurement of Chromebook laptops for use in schools and causing Rp 2.18 trillion (US$130.4) in state losses.
Nadiem appeared at the Jakarta Corruption Court in Central Jakarta that morning after missing his scheduled hearings twice last month as he was still recovering from surgery reportedly for a condition called perianal fistula while under the custody of the Attorney General’s Office (AGO).
Presenting their indictment, the AGO prosecutors accused Nadiem of manipulating the tender process for the laptop procurement for schools nationwide between 2019 and 2022 in favour of Google laptops despite the ministry’s research team advising against it.
At the time Nadiem served under former president Joko Widodo. Nadiem allegedly colluded with his four subordinates at the ministry – three of them are also on trial while former special staffer Jurist Tan remains at large.
The prosecutors said his actions incurred the Rp 2.18 trillion state losses because evidence pointed to many of the Chromebooks not functioning properly for schools in the remote, outermost and least developed regions.
According to prosecutors, the Chromebook procurement policy was intended to advance Nadiem’s personal interests in Google’s investment for companies he founded before becoming minister.
His action allegedly has allowed him to enrich himself up to Rp 809.59 billion from the investment ties although the companies in question were not involved in the laptop procurement.
“The money Nadiem received came from PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa through PT Gojek Indonesia,” prosecutor Roy Riady said.
Nadiem was charged with illicit enrichment under the 2001 Corruption Law, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of Rp 1 billion.
Nadiem denied any wrongdoing and pointed out several “oddities” in the indictment, which he described as “attempting to piece together uncorrelated facts”.
“This indictment does not clearly explain the timing of Google's investment. It is depicted as such as if it occurred in one large injection after the Chromebook policy was adopted,” Nadiem said while presenting his objection to the indictment before the court.
“In reality, almost the majority of the investment was made between 2017 and 2019, before I became minister.”
Nadiem also questioned the lack of explanation regarding the flow of funds mentioned in the indictment, claiming that he did not pocket “a single penny of PT AKAB’s money”.
“These transactions were presented as if [the prosecutors] are leaving it up to the public to guess for themselves [how I enriched myself],” he added.
The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday and the ex-minister will remain in detention. Google has not been accused of any wrongdoing. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
