Court Declares State Losses in Chromebook Corruption Case Reach Rp1.56 Trillion
The Panel of Judges at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court (Tipikor) has declared that the state financial losses in the corruption case regarding the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM)—which involves the former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Nadiem Anwar Makarim—have reached Rp1.56 trillion.
Judge Mardiantos stated that the figure for state losses was based on the audit results from the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP), which was deemed to have used a valid and accountable calculation method. In the verdict’s considerations, the judge explained that the BPKP calculated the losses by comparing the net payment amount made by the state against the fair value of the laptops that should have been paid.
“The method used by the BKS P to calculate state losses involves determining the difference between the realised net payment and the fair value of the laptops that should have been paid by the state,” said Judge Mardiantos while reading the verdict at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court on Tuesday.
According to the panel of judges, the method is arithmetically simple and can be traced through documentation. The calculation was performed by multiplying the number of units recorded in the procurement documents by the price difference between the amount paid by the state and the comparative price sourced from the Owner’s Estimate (HPS) and the fair market price for similar goods at the time of procurement.
Based on this method, the panel of judges declared that the state financial losses during the procurement period from 2020 to 2022 reached Rp1,567,888,662,716.74, or approximately Rp1.56 trillion.
“Therefore, the state financial losses for the 2020-2022 period amount to Rp1,567,888,662,716.74,” said Mardiantos.
The panel of judges concluded that the BPKP audit results are legal, valid, and methodologically accountable. The judges also assessed that the resulting state losses are real and have a direct causal link to the abuse of authority committed by the defendant.
“The panel of judges concludes that the BPKP audit results, as presented in the audit report finding state financial losses of Rp1,567,800,000,000, are valid, authentic, and methodologically accountable. The losses are real and have certainly occurred, possess a direct causal relationship with the defendant’s abuse of authority, and are supported by verifiable documents,” the judge stated.
For his actions, the panel sentenced Nadiem to 10 years in prison. The judge stated that Nadiem was proven to have violated Article 604 in conjunction with Article 18 of the Law on the Eradication of Corruption Crimes in conjunction with Article 20 letter c of Law Number 1 of 2023 regarding the Criminal Code (KUHP).