Judge rules Kemendikbudristek Chromebook procurement benefited Google
The Corruption Court of the Central Jakarta District Court has stated that the procurement of Chromebooks and Chrome Device Management (CDM) within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) for the 2019-2022 period benefitted Google.
Presiding Judge Purwanto Abdullah, while reading the legal considerations of the verdict at the Jakarta Central Corruption Court on Tuesday, stated that the intention to benefit Google as a corporation was evident from a series of strategic meetings between the defendant, Nadiem, during his tenure as minister and Google’s executive leadership since the beginning of his term.
“The intention to benefit Google as a corporation is visible from the series of strategic meetings between the defendant Nadi019s role as minister and Google’s executive ranks since the start of his term,” said Purwanto.
According to the panel of judges, the Google in question includes Google Asia Pacific and Google International as the corporations owning the Chrome Operating System (OS), Google Cloud, and Chrome Device Management, which were part of the Kemendikbudristek education digitalisation policy.
Purwanto also noted that Nadiem held online meetings with a Google representative, Caesar Sengupta, in April 2020 to discuss Chromebooks. During the trial, Nadiem explained that Caesar was a high-ranking Google official previously tasked with marketing Chromebooks in the Asia Pacific region, including Indonesia.
“Then in 2021, Mr Caesar Sengupta served as a Commissioner at PT Gojek Tokopedia,” Purwanto added.
The panel of judges assessed that this series of meetings demonstrated a substantial strategic relationship between Nadiem and Google that went beyond the ordinary relationship between a public official and a technology company.
Based on testimony from the Legal Director and Corporate Secretary of PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk, RA Kusuma Hadiani, total Google investment into PT AKAB throughout 2017-2021 reached 786.99 million US dollars.
The judges noted that most of these investments were made after Nadiem assumed his ministerial post, specifically in March 2020, May 2021, 22 September 2021, and 5 October 2021.
“The correlation between the timing of these Google investments and the defendant Nadiem’s term of office, as well as the series of Chromebook procurement policies, shows a connection that cannot be considered a coincidence,” said Purwanto.
In this case, Nadiem Makarim was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of corruption in the education digitalisation programme through the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management at Kemendikbudristek for the 2019-2022 period.
The judges stated that the replacement funds related to the receipt of 809.59 billion IDR originating from PT AKAB via PT Gojek Indonesia. Most of the funds from PT AKAB were said to stem from Google investments worth 786.99 million US dollars.
In its verdict, the panel of judges declared that Nadiem abused his authority, resulting in state financial losses of 1.56 trillion IDR.
The judges also stated that these actions were carried out alongside three other defendants who have been sentenced in separate cases, namely Ibrahim Arief (alias Ibam), Mulyatsyah, and Sri Wahyuningsih, as well as Jurist Tan, who remains a fugitive.
As a result of his actions, Nadiem was found guilty of violating Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Corruption Crimes, as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001, in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) of the 1st KUHP (Criminal Code).