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View all search resultsGoogle denies role in Nadiem’s Chromebook corruption case
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Drowning in scandal: Former education minister Nadiem Makarim, also a cofounder of ride-hailing firm Gojek, arrives on Jan. 5 for his trial in an alleged corruption case on his involvement in the procurement of Google’s Chromebook laptops for use at his ministry and by students, at the Jakarta Corruption Court. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
G
oogle has denied any involvement in the corruption case that centered on a laptop procurement policy at the education ministry between 2019 and 2022, saying it never made use of its ties with former minister Nadiem Makarim to win any government contracts.
The company made the statement a few days after Nadiem stood trial for the first time last week at the Jakarta Corruption Court, where prosecutors accused him of rigging the tender process for laptops for use in schools between 2019 and 2022 in favor of Chromebooks.
While Google has not been accused of any wrongdoing, the company in the statement addressed prosecutors’ indictment against Nadiem that alleged that the Chromebook procurement was intended to advance his personal interests in Google’s investments in companies he founded before becoming minister, including ride-hailing start-up Gojek.
“We have not offered, promised or provided benefits to education ministry officials in exchange for their decision to adopt Google products,” Google said in a statement released on its blog on Jan. 9.
The tech giant said that while it invested in Gojek and its related companies between 2017 and 2021, the bulk of those investments were made before Nadiem was appointed a minister by then-president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2019.
“These investments in Gojek-related entities have no relationship to our longstanding efforts to improve the educational landscape in Indonesia or our dealings with the education ministry in connection with our products and services,” Google said.
Prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) alleged that Nadiem enriched himself up to Rp 809.59 billion (US$48,029) from the investment ties with Google through his companies, although they were not involved in the laptop procurement.
