Former Education Minister Nadiem Makarim admitted paying Rp15 million to Rp20 million monthly in extra salaries to his special staff from personal funds during his testimony at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday.
Nadiem explained that his special ministerial staff experienced up to an 80 percent drop in income when joining the ministry. Even with the personal supplements he provided, their salary reductions remained at 40 percent.
Academic Rocky Gerung, who attended the same hearing, stated he was not supporting Nadiem and only wanted to test the legal reasoning of the proceedings. He judged the prosecutor failed to connect facts into evidence.
Prosecutor Roy Riady responded that the special team was used by Nadiem to force Chromebook usage for personal business interests tied to Google investments. Nadiem denied the Rp2.1 trillion state loss allegation, saying the figure came from corporate actions between Gojek and Google.
