Smartmatic employees indicted by US justice department told to go 'on leave'

FOLLOWING the actions of a United States (US) court, multinational firm Smartmatic International on Friday, August 9, 2024, said it had directed two of its employees, who have been indicted for alleged bribery and money laundering in connection with the 2016 Philippine elections, to immediately go on leave.

In a statement, Smartmatic said that it has placed "on leave" Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez and Elie Moreno, while Jorge Miguel Vasquez is no longer an employee of the company.

"Smartmatic has learned that two of our employees have been indicted for alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the Philippines almost 10 years ago," said Smartmatic.

"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 added.

On the other hand, the technology firm, which served as a long-time service provider of the Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec), said that it is not part of the charges before a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida.

"No voter fraud has been alleged and Smartmatic is not indicted," said the company.

It reiterated its commitment to integrity and transparency regardless of the place, where they conduct poll exercises.

"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," said Smartmatic.

On Friday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that three Smartmatic employees and former Comelec chairman Andres Bautista had been indicted for their roles in an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme to retain and obtain business related to the 2016 polls.

The personnel of Smartmatic supposedly caused at least $1 million in bribes to be paid to Bautista sometime between 2015 and 2018.

Bautista maintains innocence

For his part, Bautista denied the allegations of bribery and money laundering.

In his post on X, the former poll chief vowed to clear his name from the said charges.

"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," said Bautista.

He said such personal dealings with Smartmatic would be impossible as it has been the service provider of the Commission beginning the 2010 until 2022 polls.

"The voting machine company won the contract before, during, and after my tenure as chairman," said Bautista.

He said he believes that the charges against him are politically motivated by those in the Philippines.

"I sense these charges were politically influenced by key Philippine officials," said Bautista.

Bautista had served as head of the Comelec from April 2015 to October 2017. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)