Smartmatic executive indicted, accused of money laundering in Philippines

A top executive for voting systems provider Smartmatic has been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with his role in an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme in the Philippines, according to the Justice Department.

Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, 49, a co-founder and president of Smartmatic, was indicted along with a former chair of the Commission on Elections of the Republic of the Philippines in the bribery scheme, the department said.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) in a press release said Pinate and his co-conspirators allegedly funded bribes through a slush fund that was created by over-invoicing the cost per voting machine for the 2016 Philippine elections, totaling at least $1 million.

A copy of the indictment, which prosecutors said was returned in the Southern District of Florida, did not appear to be publicly available as of Friday morning.

“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 DOJ said. “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.”

Smartmatic, one of the largest providers of voting systems in the world, was thrust into the national spotlight after the 2020 election as a result of former President Trump’s false claims about the integrity of the election.

The company has filed a number of defamation lawsuits against Fox News and other conservative media outlets and Trump allies over statements made about the company’s software.

Earlier this summer, it issued subpoenas to four members of the board of directors at Fox Corp. in connection with its suit, which seeks more than $2 billion in damages.

Fox had agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787 Million last spring to settle a separate defamation suit over claims made on its air.

The network has argued in court filings and public statements that the allegations against Smartmatic were newsworthy and insisted the voting systems provider is inflating its financial valuation.

A trial in Smartmatic’s case against Fox is not expected to begin until next year.

In a statement on Friday, Smartmatic said 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. “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.”