Ibrahim Arief Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison; These Are the Mitigating Factors

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Former technology consultant to Nadiem Makarim, Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam, has been sentenced to four years in prison in a case of alleged corruption in the procurement of Chromebook-based laptops.

In the hearing held on Tuesday (12/5/2026), the panel of judges revealed several mitigating factors for Ibam. The judge stated that Ibam had never been previously convicted of a criminal offence.

Meanwhile, in the Chromebook procurement at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Ibam was merely a technology consultant whose role was to provide technical input.

“Thus, the degree of the defendant’s role structurally differs from the degree of the role of public officials who set strategic policies,” said the Chief Judge of the Panel, Hakim Purwanto S. Abdullah, at the Corruption Court, Central Jakarta District Court, on Tuesday (12/5/2026), quoted from the Kompas TV YouTube broadcast.

“The defendant was not proven to have received direct fund flows from the IT procurement to himself,” he added.

“Therefore, the defendant Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam is sentenced to imprisonment for 4 years and a fine of Rp500 million,” said Purwanto.

Ibam was deemed guilty, and the sentence includes a prison term accompanied by a fine of Rp500 million. The panel of judges also stipulated that the fine must be paid within one month after the decision gains legal force.

Ibrahim Arief was found to have violated Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of the Corruption Offences Law in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph 1 point 1 of the old Criminal Code.

Prosecutors stated that Ibam prepared a technical study that referred to a specific product, namely Chromebook.

He was also said to have presented several materials to ministry officials to encourage the selection of Chromebook as the procurement product.

In addition, the public prosecutor highlighted the increase in Ibam’s wealth by Rp16.9 billion, which is believed to originate from the corruption offence.