Judge Rules Google Benefited from Nadiem Makarim's Alleged Corruption in Chromebook Procurement

The panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court has expressed its belief that Google benefited from the alleged corruption case surrounding the procurement of Chromebooks. The advantage was reportedly obtained through a series of investments that influenced the economic value of a company owned by former Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim. Presiding Judge Purwanto S Abdullah stated during a hearing on Tuesday that the intended beneficiary of the scheme was the Google corporation, including Google Asia Pacific and Google International, as the owner of Chrome OS, Google Cloud, and Chrome Device Management products used in the education digitalisation policy from 2019 to 2022. The judge detailed a series of meetings between Makarim and Google executives during his ministerial tenure, beginning with an initial meeting in February 2020 with Google Asia Pacific President Scott Beaumont to discuss the Google Bangkit and Google for Education programmes. The court found that these interactions demonstrated a strategic relationship that went beyond ordinary meetings between a public official and a technology company. The ruling concluded that Google’s benefit was evidenced by its investments in PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (AKAB) during Makarim’s term. According to testimony from RA Kusuma Hadiani, Director of Legal and Corporate Secretary at PT GoTo Tbk, Google’s total investment in PT AKAB from 2017 to 2021 reached 786,999,428 US dollars.