Nadiem Makarim Claims Chromebook Case Undermines Investor Confidence in Indonesia
JAKARTA – The former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Nadiem Makarim, believes that the legal case involving him has caused concern among investors regarding the investment climate in Indonesia. This statement was made while reading his defence plea during the trial concerning alleged corruption in the procurement of Chromebook laptops at the Anti-Corruption Court on Tuesday (2/6/2026).
“Young professionals fear they could be the next victims. The business community sees a bad precedent from this case because they do not understand why this matter has been brought to court,” Nadiem stated emotionally before the panel of judges.
Prosecutors previously accused Nadiem of involvement in the procurement of laptops for educational needs during the Covid-19 pandemic. The programme is alleged to have caused state losses of approximately Rp2.24 trillion, equivalent to 12-5.64 million USD.
Last month, prosecutors sought an 18-year prison sentence for Nadiem. Additionally, he has been ordered to pay fines and restitution totalling approximately Rp6 trillion. The founder of the technology company Gojek is accused of personally gaining around Rp809 billion from the procurement project of Chromebook laptops and the Chrome OS operating system for schools between 2020 and 2022.
In the indictment, prosecutors claimed that Nadem allegedly directed tender specifications to ensure they only complied with the Chrome system. This move was allegedly intended to establish Google as the primary controller of the digital education ecosystem in Indonesia.
However, in his plea, Nadiem denied all allegations. He emphasised that he was not involved in the procurement process and questioned the basis of the state loss calculations used by the prosecutors. “Experts and witnesses have stated there were no state losses, no legal violations, no elements of enriching oneself, others, or corporations, and no criminal intent,” he said.
Prosecutors also linked the Chromebook procurement to investments made by Google in Gojek’s parent company. This allegation emerged following the revelation of several meetings between Nadiem and representatives from Google Asia Pacific and Google Indonesia in 2020. Nevertheless, Google is not a defendant in this case.
Nadiem asserted that Google’s investment in Gojek has no connection to the Chromebook procurement project. He also cited a statement from Google last January, which noted that the company’s investment in entities related to Gojek took place between 2017 and 2021, much of which occurred before he assumed office as minister.
The case has also implicated several officials related to the Ministry of Education. To date, the court has sentenced three individuals involved in the matter to prison terms of up to four and a half years, including a technology consultant convicted last month. The panel of judges is scheduled to deliver the verdict on Nadiem Makarim in an upcoming session.