WORLD NEWS: EX-PHILLIPPINES ELECTION OFFICIAL FACING US BRIBERY CHARGES
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A US federal grand jury in Florida on Thursday charged the former head of the Philippine electoral commission with allegedly accepting bribes from a company that supplied voting equipment for the nation’s 2016 elections.
According to a release from the Justice Department, Andres “Andy” Bautista, 60, is charged with three charges of international money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
For their roles in an “alleged bribery and money laundering scheme to retain and obtain business related to the 2016 Philippine elections,” three executives of the voting system manufacturer were also charged.
Although the company name was not disclosed by the Justice Department, one of the three executives facing charges is Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, a 49-year-old resident of Florida who is a native of Venezuela and a co-founder of Smartmatic.
According to the accusation, Pinate, 62-year-old Jorge Miguel Vasquez, and other individuals “caused at least $1 million in bribes to be paid” to Bautista between 2015 and 2018.
One count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is brought against Pinate and Vasquez.
Along with Bautista, Pinate, Vasquez, and 44-year-old Venezuelan-Israeli citizen Elie Moreno are also accused of three charges of international money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
In April, the highest court in the nation reversed the prohibition on Smartmatic from bidding on election contracts, which had been imposed by the Philippines Commission on Elections last year.
For the 2016 presidential election, which former leader Rodrigo Duterte won, Bautista, who presided over the electoral commission from 2015 to 2017, gave Smartmatic a $199 million contract to provide 94,000 voting machines to the Philippines.
He “did not ask for nor receive any bribe money from Smartmatic or any other entity,” he wrote on X, denying any wrongdoing.
When asked if Bautista is in US custody, the AFP received no response from the Justice Department or the US Attorney’s Office.
In a statement, Smartmatic confirmed two of its employees had been indicted, saying 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.
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