Jakarta: An Indonesian court on Tuesday found Nadeem Makarim, 41, co-founder of tech company Gojek and former education minister, guilty of corruption and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. Makarim maintains his innocence and claims the case is politically motivated, a claim supported by a group of academics and human rights activists.
According to Thai News Agency, Nadeem Makarim, who served as Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology from 2019 to 2024, is charged with corruption linked to the government's digital transformation project between 2019 and 2022. Prosecutors previously sought an 18-year prison sentence, a fine of 1 billion rupiah (approximately 2,240,000 baht), and ordered him to repay the state 5.67 trillion rupiah (approximately 12,700,000,000 baht).
The ruling is likely to further erode and undermine foreign investor confidence in Indonesia, following a series of declines in the rupiah and Indonesian stock market this year due to downgrades in economic outlook by several credit rating agencies citing concerns about governance and policy uncertainty.
In addition, MSCI, a global stock index provider, is considering whether to downgrade Indonesia's credit rating, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, due to ongoing scrutiny over transparency issues in its capital markets.