Chromebook Corruption: Judge Determines State Losses Reach Rp2.18 Trillion

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The panel of judges has determined that state losses in the alleged corruption case involving the education digitalisation programme, which included the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM) within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) from 2019 to 2022, amount to Rp2.18 trillion. “This is in accordance with the testimony of the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) in court and the public prosecutors (JPU),” stated Judge Mardiantos during the reading of the panel’s verdict at the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday. Judge Mardiantos detailed that the losses comprise Rp1.56 trillion related to the education digitalisation programme at Kemendikbudristek, as well as 44.05 million US dollars, equivalent to Rp621.39 billion, due to the procurement of unnecessary and unbeneficial CDM for the education digitalisation programme. Furthermore, he broke down the state losses related to the education digitalisation programme at Kemendikbudristek as Rp127.9 billion in 2020, Rp544.6 billion in 2021, and Rp895.3 billion in 2022. Meanwhile, he continued, the state losses from the CDM procurement in US dollars were converted to rupiah based on the lowest exchange rate from August 2020 to December 2022 at Rp14,105 per US dollar. To both of them, the state losses in the case that are imposed are only during their tenure, namely in 2020-2021, both in the digitalisation programme and the CDM procurement. In the case, both Sri Wahyuningsih and Mulyatsyah have each been sentenced to four years in prison and four years and six months, respectively. Sri Wahyuningsih was found guilty of abusing authority, while Mulyatsyah enjoyed corruption money worth Rp2.28 billion. The defendants were proven to have committed the unlawful acts together with the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology for the 2019-2024 period, Nadiem Anwar Makarim, Kemendikbudristek Technology Consultant Ibrahim Arief, and former Special Staff to the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Jurist Tan. Specifically for Mulyatsyah, he was also sentenced to an additional penalty of repaying substitute money of Rp2.28 billion or two years in prison. Therefore, both defendants were proven to have violated Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law No. 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended and supplemented by Law No. 20 of 2001.