Nadiem Makarim, the Chromebook case, is accused of harming the state by Rp2.18 trillion

The Minister of Education and Culture for the period 2019-2024, Nadiem Anwar Makarim, at the reading of the indictment at the Corruption Court at the Jakpus PN, Monday (5/1/2026). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Anwar Makarim is accused of causing state losses of IDR 2.18 trillion in the case of alleged corruption in the education digitization program in the form of the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM) in the Ministry of Education and Culture in the period 2019-2022.

Attorney General's Public Prosecutor (JPU) Roy Riady stated that the alleged corruption was carried out by Nadiem through the procurement of information and communication technology-based learning facilities in the 2020, 2021, and 2022 budget years which were not in accordance with the planning and principles of procurement of goods and services of the government.

"This act was carried out together with Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam, Mulyatsyah, Sri Wahyuningsih, and Jurist Tan," said Roy Riady when reading the indictment in a trial at the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court, Monday.

The JPU detailed that the total state losses of IDR 2.18 trillion consisted of IDR 1.56 trillion from the education digitization program at the Ministry of Education and Culture and 44.05 million US dollars or the equivalent of IDR 621.39 billion due to the procurement of CDM which was deemed unnecessary and did not provide benefits in the program.

In the indictment, it is stated that Nadiem allegedly received a flow of funds of IDR 809.59 billion sourced from PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (PT AKAB) through PT Gojek Indonesia.

For his actions, Nadiem was charged with Article 2 paragraph (1) or Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001 in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code. 1.

The JPU revealed that Nadiem, through Ibrahim Arief as a Technology Consultant for the Ministry of Education and Culture, together with Mulyatsyah who served as the Director of the First Middle School at the Directorate General of Early Childhood Education, Basic Education, and Secondary Education in 2020-2021, Sri Wahyuningsih as the Director of Elementary Schools in the same period, and Jurist Tan as a former special staff for the Ministry of Education and Culture, prepared a review of the study and analysis of the needs for information and communication technology (ICT) equipment.

The study, according to the prosecutor, was directed at the use of Chromebook laptops with the Chrome OS and CDM operating systems. However, the study and analysis of the needs were not based on the identification of the real needs of basic and secondary education in Indonesia, so that its implementation failed, especially in the lagging, leading, and outermost (3T) areas.

In addition, the JPU said Nadiem and other defendants also drafted unit prices and budget allocations for procurement in 2020 without being supported by surveys and data that can be accounted for. The unit price and budget allocation were then used as a reference in the procurement of Chromebooks and CDM in 2021 and 2022.

The prosecutor also accused Nadiem and his colleagues of procuring Chromebook laptops through e-Catalog and the School Procurement Information System (SIPLah) application in 2020-2022 without evaluating the implementation price and without adequate price references, resulting in financial losses to the state.