Jakarta court sentences Gojek founder to 10 years

A Jakarta court on Tuesday sentenced Nadiem Makarim, the co-founder of tech giant Gojek and a former education minister, to 10 years in prison after finding him guilty of corruption related to a pandemic-era school laptop procurement program. The court also ordered him to pay over 800 billion rupiah (approximately $45 million) in restitution or face an additional five-year prison term.

The Central Jakarta District Court convicted Makarim, 41, of abuse of authority for his role in procuring more than a million Google Chromebooks for schools between 2020 and 2022. Judges ruled that the process caused significant state losses, though they acquitted him of the more serious charge of directly enriching himself. The sentence was lower than the 18-year term prosecutors had sought.

Prosecutors had alleged that Makarim manipulated tender specifications to favor Google's Chrome operating system, effectively making the company the sole provider and limiting competition. They argued that Google's prior investments in Gojek's parent company created a conflict of interest that influenced the procurement, claims Makarim has consistently denied. Google was not indicted in the case.