Chromebook Procurement Trial: Nadiem Recount Gojek's Founding

Former Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim recounted the origins of establishing PT Gojek Indonesia and PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (AKAB) as a crown witness in an alleged corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebooks and Chrome Device Management (CDM) at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Tuesday (10 March 2026). The defendants in the trial are Mulyatsyah, former Director of SMP at the Education Ministry (2020); Sri Wahyuningsih, former Director of Primary Schools at the Directorate General for Early Childhood Education, Basic and Secondary Education (2020-2021); and Ibrahim Arief (alias Ibam), a consultant.

Nadiem stated that his primary motivation for accepting the ministerial position was to help develop the nation’s intellectual capacity. He explained that he founded PT Gojek Indonesia in 2010 and PT AKAB in 2014, serving as one of the company’s founders.

When questioned by prosecutors, Nadiem clarified that Gojek had two distinct founding periods. PT Gojek Indonesia, established in 2010, was a domestic investment company (PMDN) that could not receive foreign investment. Consequently, he established PT AKAB, the entity known today as Gojek, in 2014 to attract foreign investors.

Nadiem explained that PT Gojek Indonesia initially operated as a call centre using telephone and SMS services to connect customers with motorcycle taxi drivers. The company remained a domestic operation without investor funding for three to four years. In 2014, when foreign investors showed interest, PT AKAB was established as a foreign investment company (PMA) to raise capital for developing the mobile application that connected motorcycle drivers with transportation, food delivery, and goods delivery services.

Regarding shareholding, Nadiem confirmed that according to the notarial deed, he held 20.50 per cent of shares, equivalent to 522,053,000 shares at 1 rupiah per share. The prosecution inquired about other shareholders below the 5 per cent threshold, including Anthony Charles, whom Nadiem identified as his former brother-in-law, and Michael Angelo F. Morgan.

Nadiem testified that he resigned from the Gojek board on 20 October 2019 following shareholder and board decisions, as he had been appointed as Education Minister. He is also a defendant in this case but is being tried separately.

The prosecution charges the three primary defendants with causing state losses of approximately 2.1 trillion rupiahs. This comprises 1.567 trillion rupiahs from overpriced Chromebook purchases, based on the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency’s audit report on the Education Ministry’s digitalisation programme (2019-2022), and 621 billion rupiahs from unnecessary and unuseful Chrome Device Management procurement valued at USD 44,054,426.