Smartmatic Voting Machines President & Two Execs Indicted on Bribery, Money Laundering Charges
A federal grand jury indicted the group for participating in an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme that took place in the Philippines, according to the United States DOJ website.
August 11, 2024
The co-founder and president of electronic voting machine company Smartmatic, Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, was indicted on Thursday along with two other executives and a former Chairman of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) of the Republic of the Philippines named Juan Andres Donato Bautista.
A federal grand jury indicted the group for participating in an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme that took place in the Philippines, according to the DOJ website.
Press Release
Four Men Charged in Philippine Bribery and Money Laundering Scheme
A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida returned an indictment today charging three executives of an election voting machine and service provider company and a former Chairman of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) of the Republic of the Philippines for their roles in an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme to retain and obtain business related to the 2016 Philippine elections.
According to the indictment, between 2015 and 2018, Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, 49, a Venezuelan citizen and resident of Boca Raton, Florida, and Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, a U.S. citizen and resident of Davie, Florida, together with others, allegedly caused at least $1 million in bribes to be paid to Juan Andres Donato Bautista, 60, the former Chairman of COMELEC.
These 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 co-conspirators allegedly 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 and disguise the nature and purpose of the corrupt payments, the co-conspirators used coded language to refer to the slush fund and caused the creation of fraudulent contracts and sham loan agreements to justify transfers.
The co-conspirators then allegedly laundered funds related to the bribery scheme through bank accounts located in Asia, Europe, and the United States, including in the Southern District of Florida.
Pinate 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, Pinate, Vasquez, and Elie Moreno, 44, 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, Pinate and Vasquez each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the FCPA and conspiracy to violate the FCPA counts.
Bautista, Pinate, 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.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami; and Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) Miami made the announcement.
HSI’s El Dorado Task Force Miami is investigating the case, with assistance from IRS CI Miami.
Trial Attorneys Michael DiLorenzo and Connor Mullin and Assistant Chief Alexander Kramer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Emery for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the Philippine Department of Justice and Office of the Ombudsman provided substantial assistance.
The Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting FCPA and Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA) matters.
Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.
Martinez, who is a Venezuelan citizen living in Florida, reportedly bribed Bautista with a million dollars to ensure Smartmatic machines were used in the 2016 Philippine elections.
Some of the men are facing up to five years in prison if convicted while others could serve over twenty.
While the indictments were related to shady activities in the Philippines, Smartmatic has also been accused of being involved with suspicious incidents in U.S. elections.
It’s also worth noting that Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, the owner of Smartmatic, works with infamous globalist George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.
Smartmatic filed multiple defamation lawsuits against Fox News and other media outlets and political pundits in the aftermath of the contested 2020 U.S. presidential election.
While mainstream media currently sticks to the narrative that electronic voting systems are safe and secure for use in American elections, it wasn’t that long ago that even CNN was telling the truth about the faulty technology.
A 2006 report, titled “Democracy for Sale,” featured former anchor Lou Dobbs explaining the dangers of having foreign entities running US elections.
“Critics say our very democracy is now for sale, without anyone doing a thing about it,” Dobbs said while a chyron asked, “Why do Venezuelans control a U.S. voting machine firm?”
Smartmatic’s case against Fox will reportedly not go to trial until next year.
READ MORE:
Philippines Bans Smartmatic Voting Machines from Country’s Elections to ‘Safeguard Integrity of Elections’
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