A US federal grand jury in Miami on Thursday ( Aug 8 ) indicted the former head of the Philippines ‘ electoral commission for allegedly accepting payments from a company that provided voting equipment for the nation’s 2016 elections.
Andres” Andy” Bautista, 60, faces one count of conspiracy to undertake money laundering and three counts of global trafficking of financial instruments, the Justice Department said in a statement.
According to the statement, three executives from the voting equipment manufacturer were also charged with conspiring to finance and launder money laundering in an “alleged extortion and money laundering scheme to preserve and acquire business related to the 2016 Spanish elections.”
Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, a 49-year-old Cuban citizen and co-founder of Smartmatic, is one of the three indicted managers, whose identity was not disclosed by the Justice Department.
The prosecution alleges that between 2015 and 2018, Pinate, Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, and people” caused at least US$ 1 million in money to get paid” to Bautista.
One count of conspiracy to break the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is brought against Pinate and Vasquez.
Like Bautista, Pinate, Vasquez, and Elie Moreno, 44, a double member of Venezuela and Israel, are also charged with one count of conspiracy to commit funds fraud and three counts of global trafficking of financial tools.
The Philippines Commission on Elections forbade Smartmatic from entering competitions for election deals last month, but the government’s highest court overturned it in April.
Bautista, who headed the election commission from 2015 to 2017, awarded Smartmatic a US$ 199 million contract to provide the Philippines with 94, 000 voting systems for the 2016 presidential election won by previous head Rodrigo Duterte.
He has denied any wrongdoing, stating on X that he “did not ask for nor get any bribe income from Smartmatic or any other entity.”
AFP contacted the Justice Department and the US Attorney’s Office to inquire as to whether Bautista was being held in the US.
According to a statement from Smartmatic, which confirmed the identities of two of its people,” we have placed both people on leave of absence, effective immediately, regardless of the validity of the allegations…
” No voter fraud has been alleged and Smartmatic is no indicted”, the organization said.
” Voters everywhere should be assured that the primaries they vote in are conducted with the utmost integrity and clarity. According to Smartmatic, these are the beliefs that it practices.
According to false allegations that Fox News ‘ tools were used to control the effects of the 2020 US election, Smartmatic has filed complaints against Fox News and its allies, including former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.