Gojek founder Nadiem Makarim’s graft sentence cut to nine years by Indonesian court

Former Indonesian education minister Nadiem Makarim and his wife Franka Franklin (R) arrive at the Jakarta High Court for his appeal verdict on September 24, 2026. — AFP pic

First Published: Thursday, 24 Sep 2026 5:23 PM MYT

JAKARTA, Sept 24 — An Indonesian appeals court cut the corruption sentence of Nadiem Makarim today by a year, but the tech founder vowed to have the Supreme Court quash his conviction entirely.

Nadiem, the co-founder of ride-hailing app Gojek and a former education minister, was sentenced to 10 years in June for graft tied to procurement of laptops for schools during the pandemic.

An appeals court in the capital Jakarta reduced his sentence to nine years and cut the amount of restitution Nadiem must pay from 809 billion rupiah (RM184 million) to 549 billion rupiah (RM125 million).

Nadiem, who is seeking to have his conviction overturned, told media after the ruling that he would take his case to the Supreme Court.

“We will immediately file an appeal as soon as possible,” Nadiem said.

“I will not give up, and I will not receive any result other than acquittal.”

Nadiem, a 42-year-old Ivy League graduate, quit Gojek to become one of Indonesia’s youngest cabinet members in 2019, and served as education minister until 2024.

He was found guilty of corruption and abuse of authority by changing tender requirements to favour the purchase of Google Chromebooks for schools to aid remote learning during Covid-19, resulting in around US$120 million in state losses.

Prosecutors argued that Nadiem’s acts were linked to Google’s investment in Gojek.

The appeals court upheld the lower court’s decision to hand him a separate one-billion-rupiah fine. Nadiem faces an additional prison term if he does not comply with the financial penalties.

Google was not charged in the case, and the company has denied any wrongdoing.

GoTo Group, created in 2021 after a merger of Gojek and e-commerce platform Tokopedia, said Nadiem had no decision-making role since his resignation from the company in 2019. — AFP