Jakarta. The lawyer for former education minister and Gojek founder Nadiem Makarim has urged President Prabowo Subianto to step in after prosecutors detained his client in a high-profile corruption case linked to a school laptop procurement project.

Celebrity attorney Hotman Paris Hutapea, known for his flamboyant style and controversial remarks, insisted that Nadiem did not benefit financially from the Rp 9.3 trillion ($574 million) program to supply 1.2 million Chromebooks to schools between 2020 and 2022.

“Nadiem Makarim did not receive a single cent. There was no price markup in the procurement, and no one was enriched by this project,” Hotman said in an Instagram post on Thursday.

Hotman called on President Prabowo to summon both him and prosecutors to the palace for a meeting, claiming he needed only “10 minutes” to prove Nadiem’s innocence.

“Mr. President, if you truly want to uphold justice, please call the Attorney General’s Office and me as Nadiem Makarim’s legal counsel. I will present our evidence,” he said, adding that he had previously represented Prabowo for 25 years “without fault.”

“I will prove that Nadiem Makarim committed no corruption. So why has he been detained?” Hotman asked.

Earlier in the day, prosecutors formally named Nadiem a suspect in the Chromebook procurement project carried out during his time as education minister.

The program was part of a national digitalization effort intended to equip schools in remote and underdeveloped regions. However, prosecutors argued that many of the laptops were unsuitable because Chromebooks require stable internet access -- a major challenge in areas with limited connectivity and electricity.

Investigators estimated the procurement mismatch caused Rp 1.98 trillion ($122 million) in state losses.

The case marks a dramatic fall for Nadiem, once seen as a symbol of Indonesia’s digital transformation after building Gojek into a $10 billion startup. 

Add as a preferred source on Google +