Indonesia jails ex-education minister Makarim 10 years in Chromebook graft

An Indonesian anti-corruption court sentenced former Education Minister Nadiem Makarim to 10 years in prison Tuesday for graft tied to the procurement of Google Chromebooks for schools. Makarim, co-founder of ride-hailing and payments giant GoJek, served as education minister from 2019 to 2024. The court also ordered him to pay a 1 billion rupiah fine and 809.6 billion rupiah in restitution. If he fails to repay, he faces an additional five-year prison term.

Prosecutors had demanded an 18-year sentence and 5.6 trillion rupiah in restitution. They said lower-specification Chromebooks costing about 3 million rupiah each were procured for roughly 6 million rupiah per unit under an education digitalization program that ran from 2019 to 2022. The Attorney General named Makarim a suspect in September 2025, alleging he and other officials wrote technical specifications that could only be met by Google products, restricting competition and inflating costs.

The restitution ordered by the court is 809.6 billion rupiah, about one-seventh of the 5.6 trillion rupiah prosecutors sought. The fine of 1 billion rupiah ($55,870) is smaller. The trial lasted several months and featured testimony from procurement officials and technology vendors. Neither Google nor GoJek was accused of wrongdoing.

Makarim was a high-profile member of President Joko Widodo's cabinet, appointed as a technocrat from the private sector with a mandate to reform Indonesia's education system. His predecessor had also faced corruption allegations. This case marks the first conviction of a sitting minister from Widodo's administration. The verdict adds to a series of anti-corruption rulings that have targeted public officials across multiple ministries.

The education digitalization program at the center of the case aimed to provide devices to schools across Indonesia. Prosecutors said the procurement process was manipulated to favor Google, with specifications narrowed to exclude cheaper alternatives. The program involved hundreds of thousands of units.

For investors monitoring governance risks in Indonesia, the case offers a concrete data point. The court ordered 809.6 billion rupiah in restitution, far less than the 5.6 trillion rupiah prosecutors demanded. The 10-year sentence is also below the 18 years sought. The anti-corruption court, established in 2002, has convicted high-profile figures including former ministers and governors. Sentencing outcomes have varied.

GoJek, which Makarim co-founded, was not implicated in the proceedings. The company is one of Southeast Asia's largest tech firms, with operations spanning ride-hailing, food delivery, and digital payments.

Makarim has the right to appeal. The case is among the highest-profile corruption prosecutions involving a former Indonesian minister.