Judge Rules Google Was Intended Beneficiary in Nadiem's Chromebook Project

The panel of judges has declared that the corporation Google was the intended beneficiary in the procurement of Chromebooks and Chrome Device Management at the Ministry of Education and Culture. This case has implicated former Minister of Education and Culture Nadiem Anwar Makarim, who was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

“Considering that based on the series of evidence revealed in the trial, the Panel of Judges is of the opinion that the party intended to be benefited in this case is the corporation Google, including Google Asia Pacific and Google International, as the global corporation that owns the Chrome OS, Google Cloud, and Chrome Device Management products which were the objects of the digitalisation of education policy for the period 2019 to 2022,” said chief judge Purwanto S Abdullah during the verdict reading for Nadiem at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Tuesday (30/6/2026).

The judge stated that the intention to benefit was evident from a series of strategic meetings between Nadiem and Google executives since the beginning of his term. The judge noted that Nadiem also admitted to a meeting with Scott Beaumont, President of Google Asia Pacific, which discussed the Google Bangkit programme, Google for Education, and examples of Chromebook implementation.

The judge further stated that Nadiem met with Caesar Sengupta, a senior Google executive formerly assigned to the Asia Pacific region, in April 2020. The judge noted that Caesar Sengupta served as a Commissioner of PT Gojek Tokopedia in 2021.

“This series of meetings with Google executives demonstrates a substantial strategic relationship between the defendant as Minister and the Google corporation that goes beyond ordinary meetings between public officials and technology companies,” the judge said.

The judge opined that the objective of benefiting the Google corporation was also proven by the concrete manifestation of a series of Google investments in PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (AKAB). The judge stated that Google’s total investment in PT AKAB during the 2017-2021 period reached USD 786,999,428.

“Considering that the majority of this investment occurred during the defendant’s tenure as minister, specifically after 23 October 2019, with details in March 2020, May 2021, 22 September 2021, and 5 October 2021,” the judge said. “The correlation between the timing of Google’s investments, the defendant’s term of office, and the series of Chromebook procurement policies demonstrates a connection that cannot be considered coincidental.”

The judge rejected Nadiem’s defence argument that Google’s investment was a private transaction between Google and PT GoTo, deeming it unconvincing. The judge opined that the element of ‘intention to benefit’ in the article is measured by the defendant’s inner intent, not by the acknowledgment or denial of the party intended to be benefited.

“Because if Google executives deny knowing or receiving special benefits, this does not negate the defendant’s intention to benefit the corporation they represent. The intention to benefit is a subjective element located within the perpetrator, not the recipient of the benefits,” the judge stated.

“The defendant’s liability for the intention to benefit Google is doctrinally inherent in the character of the element ‘with the intention’ as dolus directus, which contains two cumulative components: knowledge and will,” the judge added.

Nadiem Makarim was found guilty in the alleged corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebooks and Chrome Device Management. The judge sentenced Nadiem to imprisonment. “Declares the defendant Nadiem Anwar Makarim has been legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing a criminal act of corruption committed jointly as charged in the subsidiary indictment,” said chief judge Purwanto S Abdullah. “Sentences the defendant Nadiem Anwar Makarim to 10 years in prison.”

The judge stated that the primary indictment from the prosecutors was not proven. The judge found Nadiem guilty as per the subsidiary indictment, namely violating Article 604 in conjunction with Article 18 of the Corruption Eradication Law in conjunction with Article 20 letter c of Law No. 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code. The judge also sentenced Nadiem to pay a fine of Rp 1 billion, subsidiary to 190 days of confinement, and restitution of Rp 809 billion. If Nadiem fails to pay, his assets may be confiscated and auctioned, and if insufficient, replaced with 5 years of confinement.