MANILA: Former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairperson Andres Bautista, along with three others, have been charged before a United States court for alleged bribery and money laundering in connection with the 2016 elections.
In a press release on its website, the US Department of Justice said a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida returned an indictment Thursday (US time) charging the former Comelec chair and three executives of an election voting machine and service provider company for their roles in an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme to retain and obtain business related to the 2016 polls.
According to the indictment, between 2015 and 2018, Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, 49, a Venezuelan citizen and resident of Boca Raton, Florida, and Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, a US citizen and resident of Davie, Florida, together with others, allegedly caused at least USD1 million in bribes to be paid to Bautista.
“These bribes were allegedly paid to obtain and retain business relat
ed 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,” the US DOJ said.
“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. 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. 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.’
Pinate and Vasquez are each charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and one substantive violation of the FCPA.
Bautista, Pinate, 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.
If convicted, Pinate and Vasquez each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the FCPA and conspiracy to violate the FCPA counts.
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, the US DOJ said.
The Homeland Security Investigations’ El Dorado Task Force Miami is investigating the case, with assistance from Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) Miami.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the Philippine Department of Justice, and the Office of the Ombudsman provided substantial assistance, according to the press release.
The US Department of Justice, however, clarified that an indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent u
ntil proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Vindication
Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia, meanwhile, has welcomed the decision of the US Department of Justice.
‘It would appear to be a sort of vindication on the part of the present Commission. We were right all along when we disqualified Smartmatic,’ the poll body chief said in a brief statement Friday.
‘Let’s presume everyone innocent until the guilt is proved,’ he added.
Smartmatic was the service provider of the Comelec starting from the May 2020 polls until the May 2022 elections.
However, the company was not allowed to participate in the bidding to automate the May 2025 polls.
Bautista, meanwhile, vowed to prove his innocence before the court.
‘I will fight for my exoneration in court and show that I have not committed any crime against the US government or the American people nor have I taken advantage or prejudiced them in any way,’ he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Meanwhile, Smartmatic has placed Martinez
and Moreno on leave of absence.
‘Smartmatic has learned that two of our employees have been indicted for alleged violations of the FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) 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,’ it said in a statement.
At the same time, Smartmatic noted that Velasquez is no longer connected with the company.
Source: Philippines News Agency
