Federal prosecutors have indicted the co-founder of Smartmatic, a voting machine company, and two other executives for allegedly engaging in a bribery and money laundering scheme in the Philippines. The indictment alleges that the executives paid bribes to secure contracts for the provision of voting machines and election services in the 2016 Philippine elections.
In a major development, federal prosecutors have indicted the co-founder of Smartmatic, a prominent voting machine company, and two other executives for their alleged involvement in a bribery and money laundering scheme in the Philippines. The indictment, announced by the Justice Department on Thursday, alleges that the executives paid bribes to secure contracts for the provision of voting machines and election services in the 2016 Philippine elections.
Smartmatic Executives Indicted in Bribery and Money Laundering Scheme
According to the indictment, Roger Piñate, a Venezuelan citizen and resident of Boca Raton, Florida, and Jorge Miguel Vasquez, a U.S. citizen and resident of Davie, Florida, along with other unnamed co-conspirators, allegedly paid bribes totaling at least $1 million to Juan Andres Donato Bautista, the former chairman of the Commission on Elections in the Philippines. The bribes were allegedly paid to obtain and retain business related to providing voting machines and election services for the 2016 Philippine elections and to secure payments on the contracts, including the release of value-added tax payments.
The Justice Department alleges that the co-conspirators funded the bribes through a slush fund that was created by over-invoicing the cost per voting machine for the 2016 Philippine elections. To conceal the nature and purpose of the corrupt payments, the co-conspirators allegedly used coded language to refer to the slush fund and created fraudulent contracts and sham loan agreements to justify transfers.
The indictment further alleges that the Philippine government signed contracts totaling $182 million for services in the sale or lease of about 90,000 electronic voting machines. The indicted executives allegedly over-invoiced or inflated the cost per voting machine for the May 2016 Philippine elections with additional fees on each unit and then used some of that money to pay bribes to Bautista.
Piñate and Vasquez are each charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and one substantive violation of the FCPA. Bautista, Piñate, Vasquez, and Elie Moreno, a dual citizen of Venezuela and Israel, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international laundering of monetary instruments.
If convicted, Piñate and Vasquez each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the FCPA and conspiracy to violate the FCPA counts. Bautista, Piñate, Vasquez, and Moreno each face a maximum penalty of 20 years for each count of international laundering of monetary instruments and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Smartmatic, in a statement, acknowledged the indictment of its employees and stated that the accused individuals remain innocent until proven guilty. The company emphasized that no voter fraud has been alleged and that it remains committed to conducting elections with the utmost integrity and transparency.
The indictment against the Smartmatic executives marks a significant development in the ongoing investigations into corruption and wrongdoing in the Philippine electoral system. The allegations raise concerns about the vulnerability of the voting system to manipulation and bribery, potentially undermining the integrity of the democratic process. The outcome of the trial will be closely watched, as it could have implications for the future of electronic voting and the prevention of electoral malfeasance.
