January 1, Smartmatic Faces Bribery, Laundering Charges Abroad

Wyatt’s Take

• Smartmatic and top leaders indicted for bribery tied to Philippine election contracts.
• Charges include money laundering and conspiracy under U.S. law.
• Smartmatic denies all wrongdoing, calls the case political.

Smartmatic, a company known for election technology, faces federal charges in Miami over alleged bribery tied to the 2016 Philippine elections. Prosecutors say company executives and its parent firm, SGO Corporation Ltd., paid at least $1 million in bribes to win big election contracts in the Philippines.

The Justice Department says these bribes were paid to the former head of the nation’s election agency, known as COMELEC, after bidding opened for thousands of machines. Smartmatic landed three contracts between 2015 and 2016, with officials claiming the company overcharged on the voting equipment to cover bribe payments.

Investigators claim those involved used fake contracts and routed money through several countries, including the U.S. The indictment accuses Smartmatic leaders Roger Alejandro Piñate Martinez and Jorge Miguel Vasquez of conspiring to violate anti-corruption laws and laundering money internationally.

In a statement, Smartmatic pushed back on the charges:

“This is again, targeted, political, and unjust,” Smartmatic said. “Smartmatic will continue to stand by its people and principles. We will not be intimidated by those pulling the strings of power.”

Outside of this case, Smartmatic has sued Fox News and Newsmax for defamation over questions about the security of its voting machines after the 2020 election.

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Wyatt Matters

Election integrity hits close to home for families across the heartland. When big companies face these kinds of charges, it’s right to demand honesty in every ballot, here and abroad.