Archive · 5 Jan 2026
Ex-Indonesia Minister Charged for Corruption in Laptop Procurement
A former minister in Indonesia is in trouble for allegedly doing something unfair.
He was in charge of education and bought lots of special laptops for schools.
The problem is, these laptops need the internet to work, and many schools in Indonesia don't have good internet.
The minister is accused of making rules that only helped one company, Google, and he might have gotten a lot of money from this.
He says he didn't do anything wrong, but the government says he did and wants to punish him.
The maximum punishment is 20 years in prison.
Google hasn't said anything about this yet.
Former Indonesian education minister Nadiem Makarim charged with corruption over laptop procurement.
Allegedly caused $125.64 million in state losses and enriched himself by $48.34 million.
Accused of creating tender specifications favoring Google's Chrome system for schools.
Purchased Chromebooks despite knowing they required internet, which is scarce in remote areas.
Makarim denies wrongdoing and claims lack of strong evidence; trial ongoing.
- Who
- Nadiem Makarim, former Indonesian education minister and Gojek co-founder
- What
- Charged with corruption over laptop procurement
- When
- Between 2020 and 2022, with charges filed in 2024
- Where
- Indonesia
- Why
- Allegedly enriched himself and caused state losses by favoring Google's Chrome system
- Person Charged
- Nadiem Makarim
- Alleged State Loss
- $125.64 million
- Alleged Personal Gain
- 809 billion rupiah ($48.34 million)
- Time Period
- 2020-2022
- Maximum Sentence
- 20 years in prison
- Company Involved
- Google's Investment
- $787 million in Gojek's parent company