JAKARTA: The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has questioned former education, culture, research and technology minister Nadiem Makarim in an investigation into alleged graft pertaining to the procurement of Google Cloud services for schools across the country during his ministerial term.
Nadiem came to the KPK headquarters in South Jakarta for an interrogation session on Thursday (Aug 7) morning accompanied by famed lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea. The questioning lasted for nine hours, with Nadiem only speaking briefly to reporters upon leaving the antigraft body’s headquarters after the interrogation. “
Alhamdulillah [Praise to God], I have finished providing information about the ministry’s Google Cloud procurement,” the former minister said, as quoted by Kompas.com.
“Alhamdulillah, it went smoothly. I was able to present my statement, and I want to extend sincere appreciation to the KPK for providing this opportunity,” he
The antigraft body kicked off its investigation into the case in July, suspecting that the procurement of the Google Cloud system that took place during Nadiem’s tenure as the education minister was rigged.
KPK investigations director Asep Guntur Rahayu previously said that the procurement was allegedly done under Nadiem’s discretion.
Google Cloud is a cloud-based service primarily designed for data storage. It played a central role during the transition to remote learning in schools across the country when learning activities in classrooms were forced to shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Investigators questioned several individuals for the case, including the education ministry’s former special staffer Fiona Handayani on July 30.
The KPK also questioned two former tech company Gojek Tokopedia (GoTo) officials, namely former director Melissa Siska Juminto and former CEO Andre Soelistyo, as witnesses.
Nadiem co-founded Gojek in 2015 and stayed with the company until 2019, when he stepped down from his role to join then-president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s cabinet. The company later merged with e-commerce platform Tokopedia in 2021.
KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo said on Tuesday that investigators suspected that the company was involved in the procurement.
Nadiem has been implicated in another corruption case pertaining to the ministry’s procurement of Google Chromebook laptops for schools across the country during the pandemic.
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) is investigating the Chromebook case and has named four people, including Nadiem’s former special staffer Jurist Tan, as suspects in the case. They were suspected of abusing their authority by rigging the laptop procurement project worth Rp 9.3 trillion (US$563 million).
Investigators alleged that the suspects favoured the Google-based laptop over other products despite the ministry’s research team not recommending the product, citing the device’s ineffectiveness in regions lacking internet access.
State loss from the laptop case is estimated at around Rp 1.9 trillion, largely due to the alleged pricing markups in the project.
AGO investigators have questioned the former minister twice for the Chromebook case. He remains a witness in the case.
When asked about whether Nadiem would be named as a suspect in the case, the AGO said investigators were still gathering evidence, including how the rigged procurement had benefited certain parties.
KPK’s Asep said on Thursday the antigraft body was coordinating with the AGO for its investigation in the Google Cloud case, because it was “intertwined” with the Chromebook case.
Nadiem previously denied allegations of collusion to favour the Chromebook over other laptops, while rebuking claims that his ministry dismissed a study outlining the laptop’s disadvantages.
He also defended the Chromebook procurement, saying that the gadgets were intended to prevent “learning loss” among students in areas with adequate internet connections and to help educators in their teaching process during the Covid-19 pandemic
Nadiem also claimed that the Chromebook programme was a success, with 97 per cent of more than one million laptops procured during his term delivered to 77,000 schools by 2023. -The Jakarta Post/ANN
