Jakarta. Former Education Minister Nadiem Makarim denies signing any documents related to the procurement of Chromebook laptops in a corruption case that allegedly caused Rp 2.1 trillion ($129 million) in state losses, telling a Jakarta anti-corruption court that all procurement decisions were handled at the director-general level.

“During my tenure as minister, I never signed anything related to the procurement of Chromebook laptops at the Education Ministry,” Nadiem said during a hearing at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday.

Nadiem, who previously served as education, culture, research, and technology minister, said procurement processes within the ministry had long been delegated to senior bureaucrats and technical officials rather than the minister himself.

“Those matters were always handled at the level of the director general, directors, and even commitment-making officials,” he said.

He added that he had no direct involvement in determining procurement specifications or technical decisions regarding information and communication technology equipment.

Nadiem also criticized what he described as misleading public narratives surrounding the case, arguing that key decisions regarding whether the ministry would use ChromeOS or Windows systems were not made at the ministerial level.

“The facts are that the authority to sign and determine specifications, whether Chrome or Windows, did not lie with the minister. That authority was at the director level,” he said.

According to Nadiem, a 2020 decree issued by a director general approved changes to laptop specifications under the ministry’s education digitalization program following technical guidance sessions.

“I never signed specification documents, nor signed the appointment for technical guidance or any study documents,” he said.

Prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office have charged Nadiem with jointly committing corruption in the procurement of Chromebook laptops and content delivery management (CDM) systems under the ministry’s digital education program between 2019 and 2022.

The prosecution alleges the project caused state losses of Rp 2.1 trillion.

According to prosecutors, the losses included Rp 1.5 trillion in inflated Chromebook procurement costs and an additional $44 million, equivalent to Rp 621.3 billion, linked to the procurement of CDM systems deemed unnecessary and without benefit.

Prosecutors also alleged that several parties profited from the project, including Nadiem, who they claim received Rp 809.5 billion through a company he founded, AKAB, the parent company of tech conglomerate GoTo Gojek Tokopedia.

Nadiem has denied wrongdoing in the case.

Add as a preferred source on Google +