JAKARTA: An Indonesian court convicted former education minister Nadiem Makarim, the co-founder of a multibillion-dollar tech startup, of corruption on Tuesday (Jun 30), sentencing him to 10 years in prison.
Judges found Nadiem guilty of graft tied to the procurement of Chromebooks for schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in around US$120 million in state losses.
The anti-corruption court in Jakarta also ordered Nadiem to pay a fine of 1 billion rupiah (US$55,850) and another 809 billion rupiah in restitution – or serve an additional prison term.
The case represents a remarkable turnaround for the Ivy League-educated co-founder of ride-hailing app Gojek, once seen as a poster boy for Indonesia’s tech startup scene.
Nadiem, 41, became one of the country’s youngest Cabinet members in 2019 and served as education minister until 2024.
Prosecutors had argued that his decision to purchase Chromebook laptops, which use Google’s operating system ChromeOS, was linked with the US tech giant’s investment in Gojek and had cost the state around US$120 million in losses.
Nadiem has consistently denied any wrongdoing and said the case against him is politically motivated – an assertion that has found support from academics and rights activists.
His lawyer said he would appeal the verdict.
The former minister claims the Chromebook procurement had in fact saved money, and has dismissed the case against him as an “investigative error”.
“Experts and factual witnesses have stated: there was no element of state losses, no element of legal violation, no element of self-enrichment, enrichment of other people or corporations, and no mens rea or malicious intent,” Nadiem said in his defence plea this month.
Prosecutors had sought an 18-year sentence as well as a hefty fine of 5.6 trillion rupiah.
Google was not charged in the case, and the company has denied any wrongdoing.