A former chairman of the Philippines’ election commission was charged by a US federal grand jury in Florida on Thursday for allegedly accepting bribes from a firm that supplied voting technology for the country’s 2016 elections.
Andres “Andy” Bautista, 60, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international money laundering, according to a Justice Department statement.
Three voting machine executives were also charged with participating in a “alleged bribery and money laundering scheme to retain and obtain business related to the 2016 Philippine elections,” according to the indictment.
The Justice Department did not identify the company, but one of the three charged executives is Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, a 49-year-old Venezuelan national and Florida resident who co-founded Smartmatic.
The indictment claims that from 2015 to 2018, Pinate, Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, and others “caused at least $1 million in bribes to be paid” to Bautista.
Pinate and Vasquez each face one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Pinate, Vasquez, and Elie Moreno, a 44-year-old Venezuelan-Israeli dual citizen, are also accused with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international money laundering.
The Philippines Commission on Elections barred Smartmatic from bidding on election contracts last year, but the country’s top court overturned the decision in April.
Bautista, who led the election commission from 2015 to 2017, gave Smartmatic a $199 million contract to deliver 94,000 voting machines for the Philippines’ 2016 presidential election, which former President Rodrigo Duterte won.
He has denied all wrongdoing, stating on X that he “did not ask for nor receive any bribe money from Smartmatic or any other entity.”
The Justice Department and US Attorney’s Office did not respond to AFP’s inquiry about whether Bautista is in US custody.
In a statement, Smartmatic acknowledged the indictment of two of its employees, noting that “regardless of the veracity of the allegations and while our accused employees remain innocent until proven guilty, we have placed both employees on leaves of absence, effective immediately.”
“No voter fraud has been alleged and Smartmatic is not indicted,” the company said, adding: “Voters worldwide must be assured that the elections they participate in are conducted with the utmost integrity and transparency. These are the values that Smartmatic lives by.”
Smartmatic has filed lawsuits against Fox News and allies of former president Donald Trump, including ex-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, over false claims that its machines were used to manipulate the results of the 2020 US election.