Indonesian tech consultant gets four years in prison in Chromebook graft case

JAKARTA – The Jakarta Corruption Court has sentenced technology consultant Ibrahim Arief to four years in prison in a graft case pertaining to the procurement of Google Chromebook laptops for schoolchildren at Indonesia’s then Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry.

At the hearing on May 12, the panel of judges acquitted Ibrahim of the primary charges brought by prosecutors that the defendant allegedly received kickbacks or financial benefits from the multitrillion-rupiah Chromebook laptop procurement between 2020 and 2022, when the ministry was led by then Education Minister Nadiem Makarim.

However, the bench found the defendant, in his role as a consultant, contributed to actions that resulted in state losses while benefiting multiple parties, including individuals and corporations, in violation of the 2001 Corruption Law.

“(The judges) declare that the defendant... is legally and convincingly proven to have committed the criminal act of corruption jointly (with other individuals) as charged in the subsidiary indictment,” Judge Purwanto Abdullah said.

Aside from the four-year prison sentence, the court also ordered Ibrahim to pay a 500 million rupiah (S$36,000) fine, or serve an extra 120 days’ imprisonment in default.

The laptop procurement was part of the ministry’s “digitalisation of schools” policy to equip remote schools with digital devices and infrastructure.

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) suspected that corruption engaged in by Nadiem, Ibrahim and other defendants in the project caused 2.18 trillion rupiah in state losses.

The judges argued that Ibrahim had gone beyond the role of a neutral consultant, noting that while he had previously identified technical limitations in Chromebook devices, he later supported their adoption in discussions and presentations with the government’s representatives.

While Ibrahim was not considered a state official, the court noted his strategic position with direct access to Nadiem as then education minister, as well as other senior officials.

The ruling was a split decision, with two judges issuing dissenting opinions. They argued that the defendant should be acquitted since his role was limited to non-binding technical advice and that prosecutors had failed to prove a causal link to the alleged corruption.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Ibrahim said he respected the whole legal process, although he did not agree with some points in the ruling, including when he was mentioned as concealing Chromebook’s weaknesses in discussions about the project.

He argued that he had asked for the laptop to be tested first after flagging compatibility issues with the device. “I will certainly respect the ongoing legal proceedings, but I personally feel there is a blatant injustice,” Ibrahim said.

“I appreciate the dissenting opinions because they show, from what I can see, fairness from my perspective and experience, including during the whole trial.”

Ibrahim’s lawyer, Mr Afrian Bondjol, said the legal team would take the seven-day period before deciding whether to file an appeal or not.

Ibrahim was among four of Nadiem’s subordinates at the ministry who were named suspects over allegations of collusion to manipulate the tender process in favour of the Google laptops, despite a ministry research team refusing to recommend the laptop due to its ineffectiveness in regions lacking internet access.

AGO prosecutors previously demanded that the court sentence Ibrahim to 15 years’ imprisonment, a one billion rupiah fine and 16.92 million rupiah in restitution payment. They argued that he had played a central role in the alleged graft scheme.

In April, the court sentenced the ministry’s former elementary education director Sri Wahyuningsih to four years in prison and a 500 million rupiah fine. Meanwhile, the ministry’s former junior high school director Mulyatsyah was handed a four-and-a-half-year jail term, a 500 million fine and 2.28 billion rupiah in restitution payment.

Nadiem’s former special staff member, Mr Jurist Tan, has remained at large since being named a suspect by the AGO in August 2025.

Nadiem, who was co-founder of ride-hailing app Gojek before becoming education minister in 2019, is standing trial in the Jakarta Corruption Court for allegedly enriching himself by around 809 billion rupiah from the botched procurement.

Prosecutors allege the money was linked to Google’s investment in Gojek’s then parent company PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa.

At a hearing on May 11, Nadiem, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and described the prosecution as the “criminalisation” of policy, insists all decisions about the project were handled at the ministry’s director-general level.

“During my tenure as minister, I never signed anything related to the procurement of Chromebook laptops at the education ministry,” Nadiem said, noting that procurement processes within the ministry had long been delegated to senior bureaucrats and technical officials rather than the minister himself.

During the hearing, judges granted Nadiem’s request to be transferred from a detention centre to house arrest, citing his health issues. THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK