Smartmatic Executives Indicted in Bribery and Money Laundering Scheme

Co-founder Roger Piñate and two other executives have been accused of paying bribes to secure Philippine election contracts.

The Justice Department has indicted three executives of the Smartmatic voting machine company for their alleged involvement in a bribery and money laundering scheme in the Philippines. The indictment accuses the executives of paying over $1 million in bribes to secure contracts for the 2016 Philippine elections.

According to the indictment, Smartmatic co-founder Roger Piñate, Jorge Miguel Vasquez, and Elie Moreno are charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and international laundering of monetary instruments. The indictment alleges that the executives used a slush fund created by over-invoicing voting machine costs to pay bribes to Juan Andres Donato Bautista, the former chairman of the Commission on Elections in the Philippines.

Smartmatic Executives Indicted in Bribery and Money Laundering Scheme

The indictment alleges that the executives paid bribes to Bautista in order to obtain and retain contracts for providing voting machines and election services for the 2016 Philippine elections. The bribes were allegedly paid through a slush fund created by inflating the cost per voting machine. The executives used coded language to refer to the slush fund and created fraudulent contracts and sham loan agreements to justify the transfers.

According to the indictment, 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. Some of that money was allegedly used to pay bribes to Bautista.

Piñate and Vasquez are each charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and one substantive violation of the FCPA, each carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Bautista, Piñate, Vasquez, and Moreno are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international laundering of monetary instruments, each carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Smartmatic has released a statement acknowledging the indictment and stating that the indicted employees have been placed on leave. The company emphasized that no voter fraud has been alleged in the indictment and that it remains committed to conducting elections with integrity and transparency.

The indictment of the Smartmatic executives highlights the serious consequences of bribery and money laundering in the context of elections. The Justice Department's investigation and prosecution of this case demonstrate its commitment to combating corruption and protecting the integrity of elections.