The Attorney General's Office has accused former Education Minister Nadiem Makarim of being implicated in a corruption scheme involving the procurement of Chromebooks to further his personal business pursuits.
Makarim understood that the Chromebooks were not conducive to the educational needs of both teachers and students, especially those residing in remote regions.
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Despite this knowledge, the procurement continued as confirmed by the Attorney General's Office prosecutor, Roy Riady.
"Hence, the procurement was carried out so Google would increase investment, provide funding to PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (PT AKAB)," Riady said.
The prosecutor stated that the bulk of PT AKAB's financial backing came from investments made by Google, amounting to around $786.99 million. Before being appointed as the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Makarim established Gojek in 2010. Initially, he owned 99 percent of the company, which was valued at Rp99 million.
To expand their business operations, Makarim and Andre Soelistyo founded a foreign investment firm, PT AKAB, in 2015, and formed a partnership with Google to incorporate Google Maps, Cloud, and Workspace into the infrastructure of Gojek. To eliminate any potential accusations of conflict of interest, it was reported that Makarim resigned from his roles at Gojek and AKAB upon assuming public office.
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"Yet the defendant, Makarim, appoint his peers, among them Andre Soelistyo and Kevin Bryan Aluwi, as director and beneficial owner, to (further) defendant's interest, which is as founder and shareholder in PT Gojek Indonesia and PT AKAB," he adds.
The purported corruption incident pertains to the acquisition of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM) systems by the ministry over the period of 2019 to 2022. It is believed that this case has resulted in state losses totaling Rp2.18 trillion.
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