TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's Attorney General's Office (AGO) has summoned representatives from Google and Telkom as witnesses in the alleged corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebook-based laptops at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) between 2019 and 2022.
Both parties were scheduled to testify on Thursday, July 17, 2025.
“Today’s examination is related to the procurement of Chromebook-based laptops. Two witnesses were summoned, one from Google and one from Telkom,” said Head of the AGO’s Legal Information Center, Anang Supriatna, during a press meeting at the Attorney General’s Office.
Anang confirmed that the Google representative, identified by the initials PRA, complied with the summons and attended the questioning. However, the Telkom representative was absent.
“Only the Google representative showed up,” he added.
Although he declined to provide further details, Anang said the examination was still part of the ongoing investigation into the alleged procurement irregularities that reportedly caused up to Rp1.9 trillion in state losses.
“It might also involve matters related to investment,” Anang stated.
The AGO suspects that the Chromebook procurement was marred by illegal practices, including altering the official assessment process to favor Chromebooks in the Digitalization of Education Program.
Initial evaluations by the ministry's technical procurement team had favored laptops using the Windows operating system. Chromebooks were seen as less effective, partly due to the uneven internet access across many regions in Indonesia.
However, following a review of the assessment in June 2020, the final decision shifted in favor of Chromebooks. The total procurement budget reached Rp9.9 trillion, with Rp6.3 trillion sourced from special allocation funds.
Prosecutors also discovered that Google had invested in PT Gojek Tokopedia Tbk (GoTo), raising suspicions that this investment may have influenced the Chromebook selection. Gojek, founded by Nadiem Makarim, later merged with Tokopedia in 2021 to form GoTo.
The name PRA had previously been mentioned by the AGO. According to the agency’s timeline of events, PRA and other Google representatives met with then-Minister Nadiem Makarim in February and April 2020. They discussed the concept of ICT procurement at the ministry during those meetings.
The meetings were reportedly followed up by Nadiem’s former special staffer, Jurist Tan (JT), who proposed a 30 percent co-investment from Google in the ministry’s ICT procurement involving ChromeOS devices.
Jurist Tan has since been named a suspect in the case. Other suspects include former ministry consultant Ibrahim Arief, Director of Elementary Education Sri Wahyuningsih, and Director of Junior High Education Mulatsyah.
To date, the AGO has questioned 80 witnesses and three experts in connection with the case.
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