Nadiem Makarim States He Has No Regrets Serving as Minister, Even Though He Now Faces Imprisonment

Nadiem Makarim stated he has no regrets about joining the government, describing it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “I will say it again, I have no regrets about joining the government. One can earn money for a lifetime. But helping the next generation of our nation become better is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Nadiem said after attending a sentencing hearing, as quoted on Friday, May 15, 2026.

Nadiem stated that he would not have refused the ministerial position when it was offered. He added that imprisonment is a risk he was willing to take. “Therefore, I would not have refused the position or the trust when it was offered. Even if I fail, the risk of failure, the risk of imprisonment, I would still take it because the future of Indonesia is more important than all these risks,” he said.

However, Nadiem expressed disappointment at being sentenced to 18 years in prison in the corruption case related to the procurement of Chromebook laptops during his tenure as minister. He also stated that the sentences given to other defendants were unreasonable. “This is a very, very, very disappointing day. Perhaps there are no words that can explain my feelings. Starting with yesterday’s decision, Mr. Ibam received a guilty verdict of 4 years, which is very unreasonable. And today we see the result of the hard work of honest people, young people who want to change old patterns, who want to advance transparency, using technology. Well, this is the reward,” Nadiem said.

In addition to the prison sentence, Nadiem was also ordered to pay a fine of IDR 1 billion and compensation of IDR 5.6 trillion, or an additional 9 years in prison. Nadiem questioned what his mistake was that led to the prison sentence. “For what mistake? There were no administrative errors, no elements of corruption in my case, and everyone already knows that. So I’m confused. Why? Why is my sentence greater than a murderer? My sentence is greater than a terrorist?” he said.

Nadiem believes he is innocent in this case and has served the country. He stated that the assets he owns come from legitimate income. “So why is this being thrown at me? What’s even more surprising is that it’s irrelevant. That money is legitimate wealth that I earned by creating millions of jobs with Gojek shares. That’s the share I got in 2015, and all the evidence is there. But it’s still being used as a legal weapon. I don’t know if it’s to scare me, to pressure me, I don’t understand what the reason is,” he said.

Nadiem explained that the IDR 809 billion and IDR 4.8 trillion were the value of Gojek’s IPO, not money he received. He claims that the evidence of the transfer and explanation of the money was clear at the trial. “That IDR 4 trillion, IDR 809, that’s from my SPT (tax return) in 2022. I reported the value of Gojek’s IPO, that’s not money I received, it’s just the IPO value. So from there, it was taken, okay, now it has to be paid back. What’s the logic? The same with IDR 809 billion, it has nothing to do with me. It has been proven that there was a transfer between two Gojek companies. I was not involved, it has nothing to do with Google, it has nothing to do with Chromebook,” he said.

In this case, the prosecutor demanded an 18-year prison sentence for Nadiem Makarim. The prosecutor believes Nadiem is guilty of corruption in the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM).

Nadiem was also ordered to pay a fine of IDR 1 billion, with a subsidiary of 190 days in prison. In addition, the prosecutor also ordered Nadiem to pay compensation of IDR 809,596,125,000 (809 billion) and IDR 4,871,469,603,758 (4.8 trillion), or a total of IDR 5,681,066,728,758 (5.6 trillion).

The prosecutor said that Nadiem’s assets could be seized and auctioned off to cover the compensation. However, if it is not enough, it will be replaced with a prison sentence of 9 years.