US indicts ex-Comelec chair Andy Bautista, 3 Smartmatic officials

The United States’ South District of Florida announced on Friday the indictment of former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairperson Andy Bautista and three Smartmatic officials.

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida indicted Bautista along with Smartmatic President Roger Alejandro Piñate Martinez, former general manager of Smartmatic Philippines Elie Moreno, and Smartmatic’s lead in Taiwan Jose Miguez Vasquez.

According to the US Department of Justice, the charges were for their roles in an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme to retain and obtain business related to the 2016 elections.

Based on the indictment, between 2015 and 2018, Piñate, a Venezuelan citizen and Vasquez, together with others, allegedly caused at least $1 million in bribes to be paid to Bautista,

These bribes were allegedly paid to obtain and retain business related to providing voting machines and election services for the 2016 polls and to secure payments on the contracts, including the release of value added tax payments.

The bribe payments were allegedly coursed through slush funds and covered by fraudulent contracts and loan agreements, that spanned money laundering in bank accounts located in Asia, Europe, and the United States, including the South District of Florida.

Bautista, Piñate, Vasquez, and Moreno are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international laundering of monetary instruments.

In September last year, the Department of Homeland Security and Investigations indicted Bautista for Conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, promotional money laundering, and concealment money laundering.

The following month, the US government requested Comelec to provide documents for the case against Bautista who then faced violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act accusations.

Meanwhile, Comelec previously disqualified Smartmatic, the country’s former provider of vote-counting machines, from participating in the bidding for the 2025 midterm elections “to safeguard the intergrity of the country’s elections.”

The poll service provider handled the Philippine elections held between 2010 and 2022.