JAKARTA: Indonesia has launched a probe into alleged corruption involving the procurement of Chromebook laptops worth about 10 trillion rupiah (US$615.8 million) by the Education Ministry. 

The laptops were procured from 2019 to 2023 as part of a nationwide digitalisation project during former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s tenure, and aimed to support public schools, said the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) on Monday (May 26). 

“Roughly 1,000 Chromebooks had earlier been tested and showed poor performance, yet the procurement went ahead,” said Harli Siregar, head of the AGO’s Legal Information Centre, at a press conference in Jakarta, as quoted by news portal Jakarta Globe. 

Kompas reported that investigators under the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes issued a “formal investigation” warrant on May 20.

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The AGO is now summoning government officials and private company representatives involved in the project for questioning. 

Harli, however, declined to name specific individuals or entities, local media reported. 

Authorities suspect there was collusion or “criminal conspiracy” among those involved in drafting studies to justify the procurement.

“There may have been manipulation and forced procurement, leading to significant waste of state funds,” Harli was quoted as saying by Jakarta Globe. 

He said there was a lack of need for Chromebooks in Indonesia as these laptops largely require internet connectivity, while internet access across the country remains uneven, Kompas reported. 

“Spending such a massive sum of public money on devices that do not match the actual needs of students raises serious red flags,” Harli said.

While the total financial loss from the project is still being calculated, Kompas reported that the estimated budget allocated to the Chromebook procurement was 9.9 trillion rupiah. 

The procurement took place during the tenure of Nadiem Makarim, who led the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry from 2019 to 2024 under Jokowi’s administration. 

When President Prabowo Subianto took over in October last year, the ministry was restructured into multiple entities overseeing primary and secondary education, higher education, culture, and research and technology.

Other high-level probes have been reported in Indonesia in recent months.

In January, the Corruption Eradication Commission said trillions of rupiah channelled by Indonesia’s central bank to some lawmakers under a corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme were allegedly misused.

In October last year, former trade minister Thomas Lembong was arrested for suspected involvement in a corruption case involving sugar imports that allegedly caused state losses of about 400 billion rupiah. Thomas served as trade minister between August 2015 and July 2016.