Convicted of Collusive Corruption, Defendant in Chromebook Case Ibrahim Arief Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Technology consultant at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam, has been sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. Ibam was found guilty of involvement in corruption related to the procurement of Chromebooks.

Presiding Judge Purwanto Abdullah stated that Ibam was proven to have conducted the procurement of information and communication technology-based learning facilities in the form of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM) that did not align with the procurement plan and various procurement principles. As a result, the project caused a total loss to state finances of Rp5.26 trillion.

“The defendant is hereby declared legally and convincingly guilty of committing the criminal act of corruption collusively as per the subsidised indictment,” said the Presiding Judge during the verdict reading at the Corruption Court of the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday (12/5/2026).

In addition to the prison sentence, Ibam was also imposed a fine of Rp500 million, with the provision that if not paid, it would be replaced with imprisonment for 120 days.

Thus, Ibam was proven guilty of violating 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 in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) first of the Criminal Code.

Before imposing the sentence, the Panel of Judges considered several aggravating and mitigating circumstances. The aggravating factor was that Ibam’s actions caused significant losses to state finances for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

Furthermore, Ibam’s actions were deemed not to support the state’s programme for clean and corruption-free governance, free from corruption, collusion, and nepotism (KKN), and were committed in the education sector during the 2019 pandemic, resulting in dual impacts of state financial losses and hindered mapping of Indonesian children’s education quality.

Meanwhile, mitigating considerations for the sentence included that Ibam had never previously been sentenced to imprisonment and was in the position of a technology consultant providing technical input rather than the main policy designer in the Chromebook procurement, so the degree of his structural role differed from that of public officials setting strategic policies.

“The defendant was also not proven to have received direct fund flows from the Chromebook procurement personally,” added the Presiding Judge.

Ibam’s sentence in the alleged corruption case of the education digitalisation programme involving the procurement of Chromebook laptops and CDM within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology from 2019 to 2022 is much lighter than the prosecutors’ demand.

Previously, Ibam was demanded 15 years’ imprisonment, a fine of Rp1 billion subsidised by 190 days’ imprisonment, and restitution of Rp16.92 billion subsidised by 7 years and 6 months’ imprisonment in that case.

Regarding restitution, the Panel of Judges did not impose such a penalty as Ibam was not proven to have received fund flows from the case.