At Chromebook Hearing, Nadiem: I Am Accused of Conspiring with People I Do Not Know
JAKARTA — Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology Nadiem Makarim claimed that he first met defendants Mulyatsyah and Sri Wahyuningsih when their corruption case unfolded, not whilst serving as minister.
Nadiem explained this whilst being examined as a witness in a continuation hearing of the alleged corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebook-based laptops for three defendants.
“When I was detained, I then heard the names of Mrs Sri Wahyuningsih, Mulyatsyah, Poppy, Khamim, and I had to find out who these people were. I do not know these individuals,” Nadiem stated during the hearing at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Tuesday, 10 March 2026.
Nadiem expressed confusion about being charged under Article 55 paragraph (1) clause 1 of the Criminal Code concerning conspiracy to commit a criminal act.
Nadiem claimed he first met Sri when they were both presented at a court hearing.
During his tenure as minister, Nadiem only interacted with officials at echelon 1 level and equivalent positions. “I alone had nearly 20 echelon 1 officials, 5 special staff members, 4 expert staff members, and around 10 directors general. That alone is 20 subordinates under me, and I find it difficult to meet with them regularly because I also had to meet with officials from other ministries,” Nadiem explained.
Nadiem is accused of enriching himself by approximately 809 billion rupiah. This amount is said to derive from Google’s investment in Gojek or PT AKAB.
Nadiem is alleged to have abused his authority to make Google the sole authority in ICT procurement, including laptops, within Indonesia’s technology ecosystem. This was done by directing procurement studies towards a single product: Chrome-based devices, which are Google products.
Nadiem is accused of committing this act together with three other defendants: former Technology Consultant in the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ibrahim Arief; Director of Secondary Schools at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology in 2020–2021 and Budget User Authority Mulyatsyah; and Director of Primary Schools at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology in 2020–2021 and Budget User Authority Sri Wahyuningsih.