TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim stated that the budget allocated for the procurement of Chromebooks amounted to less than one percent of the total ministry funds drawn from the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN). Nadiem made this statement while presenting his defense plea before the Central Jakarta District Corruption Court on Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
"The initial narrative claimed that the procurement of Chromebooks cost Rp9.9 trillion, whereas in reality only Rp6.7 trillion was used, with the remainder spent on purchasing projectors, modems, and other equipment," Nadiem said during his personal rebuttal before the panel of judges on Tuesday.
Nadiem noted that out of that Rp6.7 trillion, the specific amount utilized to purchase laptops was a mere Rp2.72 trillion. "Compared to the budget of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology at the time, which ranged from Rp80 trillion to Rp90 trillion annually, it means the purchase of Chromebook laptops accounted for less than one percent of the budget during my five years in office," Nadiem argued.
Nadiem Makarim presented this final defense plea as a rejoinder ahead of his sentencing hearing. This serves as the defense’s response to the counter-argument read by the public prosecutor, which had been submitted in reply to Nadiem's initial plea or defense note at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court.
Nadiem is one of the defendants in the alleged graft case surrounding the education digitization program, which involved the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM) systems within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology between 2019 and 2022.
Previously, public prosecutors demanded an 18-year prison sentence for Nadiem Makarim, alongside a fine of Rp1 billion or an additional 190 days in prison, as well as restitution orders of Rp809 billion (Rp809,596,125,000) and Rp4.8 trillion (Rp4,871,469,603,758), totaling Rp5.68 trillion (Rp5,681,066,728,758), or an alternative of 9 additional years behind bars.
The prosecution contends that Nadiem violated Article 603 in conjunction with Article 18 of the Anti-Corruption Law, in conjunction with Article 20 letter c of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code (KUHP).
Nadiem was charged with violating Article 2 paragraph 1 or Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of the Law on the Eradication of Corruption, in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph 1 point 1 of the Criminal Code. He stands accused of enriching himself to the tune of Rp809.59 billion, while also allegedly enriching 12 private enterprises operating as Chromebook vendors.
According to prosecutors, the choice of the Chromebook platform was driven solely by Nadiem's personal business interests to induce Google into scaling up its investments and depositing funds into PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (AKAB). The company was originally founded by Nadiem, and following the corporate merger between Gojek and Tokopedia in 2021, PT AKAB was renamed PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia. Google was recorded as one of Gojek's long-term corporate partners prior to its merger with Tokopedia.
The prosecution estimates that the Chromebook procurement project inflicted state financial losses totaling Rp2.18 trillion. This figure consists of Rp1.56 trillion from the procurement of the Chromebook laptops themselves, according to an audit by the State Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP), and US44.05million(US44,054,426) or the equivalent of Rp621.38 billion (calculated at the lowest exchange rate from August 2020 to December 2022) stemming from the procurement of Chrome Device Management software.
Read: Nadiem Saddened by Being Labeled 'White-Collar Criminal' in His Trial
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