Florida jury cites alleged bribery, money laundering
The former chairman of the Commission on Elections was indicted by a US federal grand jury in Florida on Thursday for allegedly taking bribes from a company that provided voting machines for the country’s 2016 elections.
Andres Bautista, 60, faces one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international laundering of monetary instruments, the US Justice Department said in a statement.
Three executives of the voting machine company were also indicted for their roles in an “alleged bribery and money laundering scheme to retain and obtain business related to the 2016 Philippine elections,” it said.
The US DOJ did not identify the company but one of the three indicted executives is Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, 49, a Venezuelan citizen and Florida resident who is a co-founder of Smartmatic.
“The co-conspirators allegedly funded the bribes through a slush fund that was created by over-invoicing the cost per voting machine for the 2016 Philippine elections. 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 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,” the US DOJ said.
Bautista, who headed the poll body from 2015 to 2017, awarded Smartmatic a $199 million contract to supply the Philippines with 94,000 voting machines for the 2016 presidential election won by former President Rodrigo Duterte.
He has denied any wrongdoing, writing on X that he “did not ask for nor receive any bribe money from Smartmatic or any other entity.”
Bautista alleged “key Philippine officials” were behind the cases against him.
“I will fight for my exoneration in court and show that I have not committed any crime against the US government or the American people nor have I taken advantage or prejudiced them in any way. I sense these charges were politically influenced by key Philippine officials,” he added.
In a statement, Smartmatic confirmed two of its employees were 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 (Martinez and Elie Moreno) on leaves of absence, effective immediately.”
“No voter fraud has been alleged and Smartmatic is not indicted…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.”
Comelec chairman George Garcia said the indictment was a “vindication” for the poll body.
“It would appear to be a sort of vindication on the part of the present Commission. We were right along when we disqualified Smartmatic. However, let’s presume everyone innocent until the guilt is proved by the court,” Garcia told ABS-CBN News.
The indictment alleges that between 2015 and 2018, Martinez, Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, and others “caused at least $1 million in bribes to be paid” to Bautista.
Martinez and Vasquez are each charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Like Bautista, Martinez, Vasquez, and Moreno are also charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international laundering of monetary instruments.
Comelec banned Smartmatic last year from bidding on election contracts, but the Supreme Court overturned the ban in April. With AFP
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Ex-Philippines election official facing US bribery charges
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