Indonesia detains former minister and Gojek co-founder as suspect in graft case

JAKARTA - Indonesian investigators on Aug 4 named a former education minister and co-founder of ride-hailing firm Gojek, Mr Nadiem Makarim, as a suspect in a corruption case about alleged improper laptop procurement, adding that he had been detained.

An investigator at the Attorney-General’s Office said Mr Nadiem would be detained for 20 days while the investigation proceeds.

Mr Nadiem, education minister between 2019 and 2024, was

accused of involvement in the procurement of Google’s Chromebook laptops

for use at his ministry and by students, said investigator Nurcahyo Jungkung Madyo.

“I did not do anything. God will protect me, the truth will come out,” local media reported Mr Nadiem as saying before leaving the prosecutors’ office to a detention house.

Mr Nadiem’s lawyer did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

He was accused of misusing his authority as minister to enrich himself or a company in violation of Indonesia’s anti-corruption laws, Mr Nurcahyo said. Investigators estimated that the case had caused losses to the state totalling 1.98 trillion rupiah (S$155 million).

“For investigation purposes, (Mr Nadiem) will be detained for the next 20 days,” Mr Nurcahyo told a press conference.

The prosecutors found that Mr Nadiem had issued a decree in 2021 containing procurement specifications that matched only the Chromebook laptop, Mr Nurcahyo said.

Before selecting the Chromebook, Mr Nadiem met representatives of Google Indonesia six times, Mr Nurcahyo told reporters.

Google Indonesia declined to comment on the case against Mr Nadiem. It said it works with resellers and partners to deliver its technology and government agencies transact with them, not Google.

In July, the Attorney-General’s Office raided the office of Indonesia tech firm GoTo Gojek Tokopedia to search for evidence related to the case, but did not provide further details.

“GoTo’s operations have never been related to Nadiem Makarim’s duties as education minister, including in Chromebook procurement within the education ministry,” GoTo’s director of public affairs and communications Ade Mulya, said in a statement late on Sept 4.

Mr Nadiem left Gojek after he was appointed minister in 2019. Gojek

merged with e-commerce start-up Tokopedia

in 2021 to form GoTo Gojek Tokopedia, Indonesia’s largest tech company. REUTERS