The former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Nadiem Makarim, has offered a clear explanation regarding the Rp 809 billion in funds that were reportedly channeled to him following the procurement of Chromebook laptops during his leadership at the ministry. According to Makarim, this substantial sum was entirely unrelated to Google, his personal finances, or the corruption charges currently leveled against him.
Makarim delivered this defense during his examination at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday, May 11, 2026. “I never had any knowledge of this particular transaction,” he asserted in court. “My first awareness of the Rp 809 billion transfer only came to light when this case initially began to unfold.”
Explaining the nature of the funds, Nadiem Makarim clarified that the Rp 809 billion represented an administrative corporate transaction. He elaborated that at the time, PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (AKAB) was in the process of acquiring PT Gojek Indonesia, a strategic move preceding Gojek’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the stock market.
“Essentially, this was a transaction exclusively between two entities,” Nadiem Makarim stated. He detailed how PT AKAB injected Rp 809 billion into PT Gojek Indonesia through the issuance of new shares, resulting in PT AKAB holding a dominant 99.9 percent stake in PT Gojek Indonesia. However, Makarim further explained that PT Gojek Indonesia simultaneously carried a debt of Rp 809 billion owed to PT AKAB. Consequently, at the very moment of this investment, PT Gojek Indonesia transferred the exact same sum back to PT AKAB as a repayment of this existing debt.
Despite this complex flow of funds, nearly 99.9 percent of PT Gojek Indonesia’s shares ultimately remained under the ownership of PT AKAB. “Crucially, in this entire transaction, not a single share owned by existing shareholders was sold,” Makarim emphasized. “Therefore, absolutely no money was channeled to any individual shareholder, myself included. In fact, after this financial operation, my own 90 percent stake in the company was significantly diluted to a mere 0.01 percent.”
He continued by stating, “It doesn’t require a finance degree to understand that in such a scenario, my personal position was one of loss, not profit. Once the funds were introduced, my shareholding was diluted down to 0.01 percent.” This clearly illustrates the financial impact on him.
Prior to these clarifications, public prosecutors had already indicted Nadiem Makarim on corruption charges, alleging his involvement with several other individuals. These included Ibrahim Arief, a former consultant for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek); Sri Wahyuningsih, Director of Elementary School Education at Kemendikbudristek from 2020–2021; Mulyatsyah, former Director of Junior High School Education at Kemendikbudristek; and Jurist Tan, a former special staff member to the Minister. The indictment specifically details that Makarim established the online transportation company Gojek, through PT Gojek Indonesia, in 2010, holding a commanding 99 percent ownership stake valued at Rp 99 million.
To further expand this burgeoning online transportation enterprise, in 2015, Nadiem Makarim, alongside Andre Soelistyo, co-founded PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (PT AKAB), a foreign capital company. Subsequently, they forged a strategic partnership with Google, integrating Google Map, Google Cloud, and Google Workspace applications into Gojek’s operational framework.
This partnership saw significant investment from Google, which injected USD 99,998,555 into PT AKAB in 2017, followed by another capital infusion totaling USD 349,999,459 two years later. The prosecutors’ indictment further alleges that Nadiem Makarim and other implicated parties proceeded with the procurement of information and communication technology-based learning facilities. These included Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM), carried out over the budget years of 2020, 2021, and 2022.
However, concerns arose that these procured Chromebook laptops were not optimally suited for use in Indonesia’s 3T regions (Terdepan, Terluar, Tertinggal – meaning frontier, outermost, and disadvantaged areas). This was primarily due to their operational dependency on a stable internet connection, a resource that remains severely limited in these remote and underserved locales.
The collective actions of Nadiem Makarim and the other accused individuals are alleged to have inflicted substantial state losses, amounting to an staggering Rp 2,189,276,341,446.74, or approximately Rp 2.18 trillion.
These colossal losses are itemized into two main components: inflated pricing for the Chromebooks, accounting for Rp 1,567,888,662,719.74 (approximately Rp 1.56 trillion), and the procurement of Chrome Device Management (CDM), which prosecutors deemed both unnecessary and without benefit, valued at USD 44,054,426 (equivalent to Rp 621,387,678,730). Furthermore, Nadiem Makarim himself stands accused of personally benefiting by receiving Rp 809,596,125,000, or Rp 809.59 billion.
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Summary
Former Minister of Education Nadiem Makarim has denied receiving Rp 809 billion in personal funds related to a Chromebook procurement case. He explained that the sum was an administrative corporate transaction involving PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa and PT Gojek Indonesia during a pre-IPO restructuring, which resulted in the dilution of his personal shareholding rather than a profit. Makarim emphasized that the movement of funds served to repay company debt and that he had no prior knowledge of these transactions.
Despite his defense, Makarim faces corruption charges alongside several former ministry officials regarding the procurement of Chromebooks and Chrome Device Management services between 2020 and 2022. Prosecutors allege that the project caused state losses totaling approximately Rp 2.18 trillion due to inflated pricing and the acquisition of unsuitable technology for remote regions. The legal proceedings continue as the court investigates the alleged misuse of public funds during his tenure.