Denying Prosecutors, Nadiem Makarim Insists Rp4.87 Trillion Asset Increase Comes from 2022 GOTO IPO Value

Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim has denied prosecutors’ allegations that his Rp4.87 trillion wealth increase resulted from the Chromebook corruption case. Nadiem explained that the increase in his assets stems from the initial public offering (IPO) value of PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk (GOTO) in 2022. He stated that this figure was reported in his annual tax notification letter (SPT) as the IPO value, but it does not represent money he received. “That’s just the IPO value. So, from there, it’s taken, okay, now it has to be paid back. What logic is that?” Nadiem said at the Corruption Court during the trial at the Central Jakarta District Court, quoted from ANTARA, on Thursday, 14 May 2026. He further explained that the same applies to the Rp809.59 billion alleged as corruption proceeds. Nadiem said the amount has been proven to be a transfer between two companies, namely PT Gojek Indonesia and PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (AKAB), so he is not involved. “This has nothing to do with Google, nothing to do with Chromebook,” Nadiem stated. Consequently, Nadiem expressed disappointment that the facts presented during the trial so far have been ignored. He opined that the proof process in the trial is pointless if the prosecutors’ demands are based solely on the indictment. “Why are we even having this trial? Might as well just convict directly. At least, it wouldn’t waste all our time,” Nadiem remarked. In the trial reading the indictment letter, public prosecutors (JPU) from the Attorney General’s Office, Roy Riady, suspected Nadiem’s disproportionate wealth increase of Rp4.87 trillion as resulting from corruption in the Chromebook case. This is because the unbalanced asset increase relative to Nadiem’s income as a minister occurred during the period of the alleged Chromebook corruption case, from 2019 to 2022. “This is part of the corruption scheme involving unlawful acts or abuse of authority in the defendant’s policy of choosing Google’s Chrome OS, constituting a conflict of interest,” the JPU stated during the trial at the Corruption Court of the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday. The JPU explained that when Nadiem first took office as Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology in October 2019, he reported his assets as a state official to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) totaling Rp1.23 trillion.