On Thursday, a federal grand jury in Florida indicted Roger Piñate, the founder and president of the voting-machine company Smartmatic, on charges related to a bribery and money-laundering scheme that he allegedly used to secure election contracts in the Philippines.
Federal prosecutors allege that between 2015 and 2018, Piñate, a 49-year-old Venezuelan-American living in Boca Raton, Florida, along with Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, from Davie, Florida, and two other individuals, were involved in paying $1 million in bribes to Juan Andres Donato Bautista, the former chairman of the Philippines’ Commission on Elections.
According to the Department of Justice, these bribes were allegedly paid to secure contracts for providing voting machines and election services for the 2016 Philippine elections and to ensure the release of payments, including value-added tax refunds.
The co-conspirators reportedly funded the bribes by inflating the cost of each voting machine. To conceal the operation, they used coded language to discuss the slush fund used for the payments and fabricated contracts and loan agreements to justify the transfers.
The funds were then allegedly laundered through bank accounts in Asia, Europe, and the United States, including accounts in the Southern District of Florida.
Piñate, Bautista, Vasquez, and another individual, Elie Moreno, 44, have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international laundering of monetary instruments. Each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years for each count.
Piñate co-founded Smartmatic in 2000 with Venezuelans Antonio Mugica and Alfredo José Anzola. The company gained prominence in 2004 when it was selected by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to replace the country’s voting machines. Smartmatic expanded in 2006 by acquiring Sequoia Voting Systems but later announced it had divested from the company, according to El Nuevo Herald.