Smartmatic executive indicted in Philippine election bribery scheme

• By Ezra Levant

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A federal grand jury has indicted Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, a co-founder and president of voting systems provider Smartmatic, in connection with an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme in the Philippines, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

Pinate, 49, along with a former chair of the Commission on Elections of the Republic of the Philippines, is accused of orchestrating a complex scheme to bribe election officials. The DOJ alleges that the conspirators created a slush fund of at least $1 million by inflating the cost of voting machines for the 2016 Philippine elections, the Hill reports.

According to prosecutors, the scheme involved elaborate measures to conceal the nature of the payments, including the use of coded language, fraudulent contracts, and sham loan agreements. The indictment further claims that funds were laundered through bank accounts across Asia, Europe, and the United States, including in the Southern District of Florida where the charges were filed.

This development comes at a sensitive time for Smartmatic, which has been embroiled in controversy since the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The company has been fighting disinformation campaigns and has filed several high-profile defamation lawsuits against conservative media outlets and allies of former President Donald Trump over claims about the integrity of its voting systems.

Notably, Smartmatic is currently pursuing a $2 billion lawsuit against Fox News, recently subpoenaing four Fox Corp. board members. This legal action follows Fox's $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems in a separate defamation case earlier this year.