The president of voting machine software company Smartmatic has been indicted on multiple federal charges over an international bribery scheme.
Smartmatic was a the center of voter fraud allegations following the 2020 election after it was alleged that the company’s voting software was used to rig fake votes on voting machines.
The company even successfully sued conservative news outlets that reported on the allegations while the liberal corporate media insisted the company and its software are “secure.”
The “trusted” company’s software is used on voting machines all around the world to supposedly “secure” elections.
On Thursday, Smartmatic’s founder and president, Roger Piñate, was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida on charges involving a bribery and money-laundering scheme used to secure elections contracts in the Philippines.
Two other company executives were also indicted.
49-year-old Piñate of Boca Ratón Florida, along with Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, of Davie, was among those charged over the alleged payment of $1 million in bribes to the former chairman of the Philippines Commission on Elections, Juan Andres Donato Bautista.
“These bribes were allegedly paid 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,” according to a press release from the US Department of Justice.
According to the indictment, the alleged co-conspirators financed the bribes by over-invoicing the cost per voting machine used in the elections.
To hide their crime, prosecutors say they used coded language to refer to a slush fund used to make the illicit payments – causing the creation of fraudulent contracts and fake loan agreements to make the transfers appear legitimate.
The defendants then allegedly laundered the funds related to the bribery scheme via a constellation of international bank accounts in Asia, Europe, and the United States – including in the Southern District of Florida.
Bautista, Piñate, Vasquez, and Elie Moreno, 44, a dual citizen of Venezuela and Israel, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international laundering of monetary instruments, the Miami Herald reported.
If convicted, Bautista, Pinate, Vasquez, and Moreno each face a maximum penalty of 20 years for each count of international laundering of monetary instruments and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Smartmatic was founded in 2000 by Piñate, Antonio Mugica, and Alfredo José Anzola.
The company made international headlines after then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez chose the company to replace the country’s voting machines in 2004.
In 2006, they acquired Sequoia Voting Systems – though later divested its stake.
According to Smartmatic’s website, Piñate “played a critical role in planning and executing the world’s largest election using optical scanners (in the Philippines) and in Smartmatic winning the largest election contract in US history (in Los Angeles).”
The company responded to the indictment Thursday night, saying in a statement:
“Smartmatic has learned that two of our employees have been indicted for alleged violations of the FCPA in the Philippines almost 10 years ago.
“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.
“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 learned that two of our employees have been indicted for alleged violations of the FCPA in the Philippines almost 10 years ago. Regardless of the veracity of the allegations and while our accused employees remain innocent until proven guilty, we have placed both… pic.twitter.com/ZGFVXgh5XX
— Smartmatic (@smartmatic) August 9, 2024
Many have been taking to social media to highlight the long-held suspicions about Smatmatic.
Several prominent users on X noted that the indictment proves that Smartmatic is not the “trusted” company the corporate media has claimed it to be.
As you digest the news of Smartmatic indictments, remember what kind of regime you currently live under in this country.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) August 9, 2024
Were top executives at Smartmatic, a voting machine company, indicted by the regime because of bribery and fraud?
Or were they indicted because something… https://t.co/RdfozHA4K9 pic.twitter.com/AZWniYwQk9
Smartmatic, in the Philippine house, admits that electronic election data could be deleted in the middle of the night, and nobody would even know.
— Bad Kitty Unleashed 🦁 (@pepesgrandma) August 9, 2024
When Smartmatic was forced to sell in the US over its Venezuela links, it retained the Intellectual Property of its software. This… pic.twitter.com/EAs0yaA4cg
President Donald Trump previously accused Smartmatic of allowing its software to be hacked to rig votes.
Trump believes that Smartmatic was used to steal the 2020 election from him by rigging votes for Democrat President Joe Biden.
Flashback to 2020, when the Trump Campaign accused Smartmatic of providing hackable software to Dominion Voting Systems, which they claimed compromised the 2020 Presidential election.
— The Intangible Truth (@LukeMor19529310) August 9, 2024
Today Smartmatic's founder has been indicted for bribery & money laundering.
Trump was right. https://t.co/iVKbtiYDJy
