Three Senior Smartmatic Executives Charged in Massive Bribery Scheme
Three senior executives at the voting machine company Smartmatic have been charged in a massive bribery scheme.
In a press release on Thursday, the Department of Justice confirmed that between 2015 and 2018, Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, 49, a Venezuelan citizen and resident of Boca Raton, Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, a U.S. citizen and resident of Davie, Florida, funnelled around $1 million in bribes to Juan Andres Donato Bautista, 60, the former Chairman of the Filipino Commission of Elections (COMELEC).
Four Men Charged in Philippine Bribery and Money Laundering Scheme
: https://t.co/kEDlpAV26q pic.twitter.com/3OKw5qZBEn
— Criminal Division (@DOJCrimDiv) August 8, 2024
The release explains:
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.
