Nadiem Makarim, former Indonesian Education Minister and co-founder of Gojek, was sentenced on June 30, 2026, to 10 years in prison for corruption related to the procurement of Chromebook laptops for schools during the COVID-19 pandemic [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. The Jakarta Corruption Court ordered him to pay fines and restitution totaling approximately 810 billion rupiah (around $45–58 million), plus an additional 1 billion rupiah fine [3, 5, 6, 7].
Prosecutors argued the procurement caused state losses estimated at $120–125 million by manipulating tender specifications to favor Google products, benefiting Google and Gojek, Makarim’s former company [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7]. Public Prosecutor Roy Riady said, "The trial facts also revealed an alleged conflict of interest, where there was an investment and business debt relationship between the technology provider and the company owned by the Defendant, thus creating an unhealthy symbiosis in the procurement of state goods" [6].
Makarim denied all wrongdoing. He called the case an investigative error and said, "Experts and factual witnesses have stated: there is no element of state loss, no element of violation of the law, no element of self-enrichment, enrichment of another person or company, and no malicious intent or bad intentions" [1, 2, 3, 7, 8]. He further claimed, "The judges couldn’t even look me in the eye" during the trial [7].
The court found Makarim abused his authority to unlawfully benefit certain parties as Chief Judge Purwanto stated, "The manner and purpose by which the policy was taken were proven to contain an abuse of authority intended to unlawfully benefit certain parties" [3].
Prosecutors originally sought an 18-year prison sentence and fines and restitution amounting to 5.6 trillion rupiah (around $313 million), but the court gave a lighter sentence and penalties [2, 5, 6, 7, 8]. If Makarim does not pay the restitution, an additional 5-year prison term will be added to his sentence [3, 10, 11, 5, 6, 7].
Makarim resigned from Gojek in 2019 to become Indonesia’s education minister, serving until 2024 [1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8]. He was named a corruption suspect in September 2025 in connection to the Chromebook procurement case [6]. In February 2020, he met with Google Indonesia representatives to discuss Google products including Chromebooks [6].
Makarim’s sentencing marks a major development in the high-profile case, capping more than nine months since he was named a suspect. The court’s ruling establishes a 10-year prison term and significant financial penalties as consequences for the procurement corruption.
