Ex-Comelec chairman Bautista, Smartmatic officials facing bribery, money laundering charges in US
Metro Manila, Philippines – A US federal grand jury has charged former Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista and three executives of poll service provider Smartmatic for alleged bribery and money laundering related to the 2016 elections.
The US Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Florida announced the indictment in a news release that the Comelec shared to the media early Friday, Aug. 9.
It said “three executives of an election voting machine and service provider company” bribed Bautista with at least $1 million “to obtain and retain business related to providing voting machines and election services for the 2016 Philippine elections and to secure payments on the contracts, including the release of value added tax payments.”
While it did not name Smartmatic explicitly, it named its president, Roger Roger Piñate; vice president of its global services unit, Elie Moreno; and VP for external operations, Jorge Miguel Vasquez.
Piñate is a Venezuelan citizen and resident of Florida. Vasquez is a US citizen who also resides in Florida, while Moreno is a dual citizen of Venezuela and Israel.
“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,” the US Attorney’s Office said.
“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,” it added.
“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,” it further said.
Bautista and the three foreign nationals are each facing charges of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international laundering of monetary instruments. They face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count.
Piñate and Vasquez are also facing charges of one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and one substantive violation of the same. The maximum penalty is five years in prison.
The Homeland Security Investigations’ El Dorado Task Force Miami is investigating the case, with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.
The US Attorney’s Office also said the Philippines’ Department of Justice and Office of the Ombudsman provided substantial assistance in the case, as well as the US Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.
Bautista, Smartmatic earlier denied allegations
Bautista denied the allegations last year when the Department of Homeland Security’s HSI filed the case.
“I did not ask for nor receive any bribe money from Smartmatic or any other entity,” Bautista said in September 2023, adding that he was ready to face the charges at the proper forum and time.
At the time, Smartmatic also maintained it adhered to Philippine rules in every bidding process and procurement procedure, adding that “nothing about this investigation has anything to do with election security or integrity."
In November last year, Comelec disqualified Smartmatic from the bidding for the automated election system for the 2025 midterm polls – a decision which the Supreme Court reversed. The high court said it was a discretionary prequalification and grave abuse of discretion.
In a text message to reporters on Friday, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said, “Let’s presume everyone innocent until the guilt is proven.”
