For many Indonesians who have built careers abroad, Nadiem Makarim once represented a particular kind of homecoming success story.

The Brown and Harvard University-educated co-founder of Gojek had walked away from the start-up world to serve in government, bringing with him the aura of Indonesia’s technology boom and the promise that private-sector talent could help modernise the state.

Now, with prosecutors seeking an 18-year prison sentence for the former education minister in a corruption case linked to school laptop procurements, his trial has prompted some among the Indonesian diaspora to question whether the risks of public service outweigh the rewards.

Prosecutors have portrayed the charges as a “white-collar crime” that inflicted heavy losses on the state, alleging Nadiem manipulated procurement processes during his time as education minister from 2019 to 2024.

Nadiem has denied all wrongdoing, with his lawyers insisting prosecutors have not shown evidence of criminal intent, financial gain or actual losses to the Indonesian state.

The case centres on the education ministry’s procurement of Chromebook laptops for schools in remote and underdeveloped regions between 2019 and 2022.