Gojek cofounder facing 18 years in prison, S$72 million fine in Chromebook laptop corruption case

Founder of ride-hailing company Gojek and former Indonesian education minister Nadiem Makarim is facing up to 18 years in prison and a fine of over Rp 5.5 trillion (S$72 million).

Nadiem is accused by the Indonesian Attorney General's Office (AGO) of allegedly manipulating the procurement of Chromebook laptops, as well as attempting to enrich himself while he was the education minister.

The AGO has asked the Jakarta corruption court to sentence Nadiem to 18 years in prison for his alleged crimes.

Losses of 2.2 trillion

Nadiem is the co-founder of Indonesia's popular ride-hailing app Gojek, which he started in 2010.

He resigned as Gojek's CEO in 2019 in order to serve as Indonesia's education minister under Indonesia President Joko Widodo until 2024.

As reported by the Jakarta Globe, prosecutors at the Jakarta Corruption Court accused Nadiem of causing state losses of 2.2 trillion rupiah (S$158 million) through the procurement of Chromebooks and Chrome device management software between 2020 and 2022.

Indonesian prosecutors accused Nadiem of enriching himself by about 809 billion rupiah (S$58 million).

The New York Times also reports that prosecutors accused Nadiem of engaging in quid pro quo investments with Google for investments that they had made in Gojek years earlier.

Google had made early investments in Gojek, while Nadiem was still in charge, prior to his appointment as education minister.

Chromebooks

Prosecutors allege that Indonesia's Ministry of Education (MOE) research advisors had advised against buying the Chromebooks as they were meant to be deployed in rural regions that lacked sufficient Internet access.

Chromebooks are a type of laptop created by Google, popular in the education sector, notable for running less demanding software and using web apps to reduce performance demands.

Google has not been accused of any wrongdoing in this trial, but has nonetheless published a detailed blog post denying allegations of wrongdoing, including noting that Chromebooks are designed to be used in remote and offline learning environments, and that Google did not directly sell Chromebooks anyway: the laptops are sold directly by manufacturers.

Accusations "crazy"

The NYT quoted Nadiem as saying that the accusations against him were "crazy", and that they, meaning the prosecutors, "could not find any money that came to me."

Nadiem has also defended his decision to procure the Chromebooks because he said they were cheaper than other laptops.

The Indonesian AGO has also demanded that Nadiem pay Rp 5.6 trillion (S$403.0 million) in restitution to the state and an additional 1 billion rupiah (S$72,000) in fines, in addition to the 18-year prison sentence.

A human rights lawyer that The Jakarta Post spoke to, Todung Mulya Lubis, described the verdict as "insane", and said that Nadiem's case was similar to that of former Indonesia Trade Minister Thomas Lembong.

Todung described both Nadiem's and Lembong's cases as those of public officials who had been criminalised for their policy decisions, which were their prerogative.

Todung warned that such prosecutions could potentially dissuade young entrepreneurs and professionals from entering public service.

Nadiem's defence's closing statement is not expected until the beginning of June, as Nadiem is reportedly suffering from significant health issues.

However, two of Nadiem's former subordinates at the Indonesian Ministry of Education, as well as a technology consultant, have been sentenced to between 4 and 4.5 years in prison for their case.

Sympathy

Nadiem's case has elicited a significant amount of sympathy.

The NYT article characterised the prosecution as raising fears of authoritarian overreach by Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto.

Former Malaysian Minister Syed Sadiq expressed his sympathy with Nadiem in a social media post.

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Syed Sadiq said that he could not "fully imagine the pain and suffering you and your family are going through right now," adding that Nadiem had left behind a multi-billion dollar company in order to choose public service.

Syed Saddiq has faced allegations of corruption, although he was later acquitted.

He recounted how he had encouraged Nadiem to consider joining politics, saying that ASEAN desperately needed more young disruptors and reformers.

Having helped to convince Nadiem to enter politics, he said he felt a sense of guilt as Nadiem's entry into public service was putting him through "hell".