Ibam Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison, Now Nadiem Faces Prosecution Today

Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim is scheduled to attend a hearing for the reading of the prosecutor’s demands in the alleged corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebooks and Chrome Device Management (CDM) at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Wednesday (13/5). This hearing is a continuation following yesterday’s session where the expert advisor to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Ibrahim Arief (Ibam), was sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of Rp500 million in the same case. The panel of judges at the Corruption Court (Tipikor) of the Central Jakarta District Court found Ibam guilty of causing harm to state finances in the case. “We hereby sentence the defendant Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam to imprisonment for 4 years,” stated the chief judge Purwanto S Abdullah while reading the verdict at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Tuesday (12/5). Based on the trial facts, the panel of judges determined that the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM) indeed provided benefits to various parties, including individuals and corporations. In their considerations, Ibam was noted to have known and recorded three weaknesses of the Chromebook, such as limitations in internet connectivity and compatibility with applications owned by the Ministry of Education and Culture. However, in subsequent meetings, the judge continued, Ibam still presented it by only highlighting the advantages of the Chromebook and directing the procurement towards that alone. “The defendant’s actions have exceeded the boundaries of providing objective input,” said judge member Sunoto. Now, the Public Prosecutor (JPU) will read the demands for Nadiem. “So it remains on the 13th (May) for the demands,” said chief judge Purwanto S Abdullah. Nadiem is charged with corruption related to the procurement of Chromebook laptops during his tenure as Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology. The project is said to have caused state losses of Rp2.1 trillion. Prosecutors state that the calculation of state losses of Rp2.1 trillion comes from the overpricing of Chromebooks amounting to Rp1,567,888,662,716.74 (1.5 trillion). Then, the procurement of unnecessary and unbeneficial CDM amounting to USD 44,054,426 or equivalent to approximately Rp621,387,678,730.00 (621 billion).