Analyst: Nadiem Makarim Case Is an Organised White-Collar Crime
Markets have reacted positively to President Prabowo’s address and Bank Indonesia’s policies. Legal and prosecution analyst Fajar Trio regards the prosecutors’ move to indict former Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology Nadi Makarim with a multi-count sentence as appropriate. He says the case involves structured manipulation at a corporate scale, and that the Public Prosecutor’s Office (JPU) has uncovered the architecture of complex financial engineering commonly used in large businesses to hide fund flows.
“The step by the prosecutors to firmly prosecute Nadi Makarim is very appropriate. This case is not merely a matter of administrative recording errors on paper, but a strategy of corporate game-playing that has been carefully designed,” Fajar said in a press statement on Thursday (20 May 2026).
Earlier, the JPU demanded 18 years in prison, reduced for time already served, along with a fine of Rp 1 billion with a six-month subsidiary imprisonment. Not only a severe penalty, Nadiem was also charged with a fantastical amount of restitution — Rp 5.8 trillion.
In the Chromebook procurement case, the JPU disclosed a stark gulf between fresh cash transferred by Google Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd and the amount officially recorded in the company’s notarial deed.
Legally, the modus operandi is categorized as Capital Injection Misrepresentation and Beneficial Ownership Concealment through Understated Legal Capital. Its aim is to hide the identity of the main investor, avoid disclosure obligations, and manipulate taxes.
Fajar agreed that the mismatch in capital documentation at PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (PT AKAB) demonstrates malice (mens rea).
“The facts and evidence presented by the JPU clearly show a form of fraudulent corporate structuring. Namely, repeatedly understating the actual equity is no longer mere administrative negligence but an organised white-collar crime,” he asserted.
Based on court records, jumbo funds from Google were recorded as flowing into the company’s cash, but the amounts in the notarial deed were drastically smaller. For example, on 22 December 2017, the real transaction valued at USD 99,998,555 for 35,719 shares was recorded in Notarial Deed No. 36 as only Rp 17,895,500,000. The pattern repeated up to the IPO. On 19 October 2021, a jumbo injection of USD 69,999,999.98 was recorded publicly as Rp 2.66 billion.
Fajar warned that this capital valuation manipulation not only reduces the country’s final income tax but also traps public investors and state-owned Telkomsel, which bought the shares.
“Because the valuation was not transparent from the outset through capital documentation that was reduced, public investors and state-owned enterprises were drawn to purchase shares at prices manipulated to be much higher. Ultimately, public finances were harmed for the sole benefit of insiders’ control.”
Meanwhile, Prosecutor Roy Riady highlighted anomalies in Nadiem Makarim’s personal wealth in Singapore, which stands in contrast to GoTo’s continuing losses as a corporation.
The prosecutors found a string of jumbo accounts at Bank of Singapore (BOS) and other investment instruments in the defendant’s name totaling trillions of rupiah. Among them are a portfolio at Bank of Singapore worth Rp 4.40 trillion, Rp 65.21 billion, and Rp 852.41 billion, plus ownership of Planet Ocean Pte Ltd worth Rp 57.74 billion.
Given the defendant previously stated that his principal wealth came from PT AKAB, prosecutors strongly suspect the assets relate to a Layered Investment Scheme prior to the IPO to reduce transparency.
Legally, Fajar Trio stresses that the prosecutors’ indictment is robust, accusing the defendant under multiple provisions—from falsification of public documents under the new Penal Code (Law No. 1/2023), violations of transparency for beneficial ownership (Presidential Regulation No. 13 of 2018), the Capital Market Law, to the Company Law.
The Attorney General’s Office suspects Nadiem Makarim used a shell organisation and a white-collar crime scheme in the Chromebook procurement worth trillions of rupiah.
Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, Nadi Makarim, says the rise in his wealth by Rp 4.87 trillion stems from the GOTO IPO.
The JPU believes the increase in wealth in 2022 is connected to suspected corruption in Chromebook procurement.
Nadiem Makarim says the health condition is not stable amid the ongoing trial. Three defendants in the Chromebook corruption case are scheduled to …