2 days ago

Smartmatic's president and co-founder, Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez is among the charged.
Reuters:
"Prosecutors have alleged the executives funneled $1 million in bribes between 2015 and 2018 to a former Philippine election official, also a defendant, to obtain business."
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-prosecutors-charge-voting-tech-company-smartmatic-alleged-bribery-scheme-2025-10-16/
They paid BAUTISTA.
Brave AI "quick answer" is much more informative than the solitary minute Solomon gave to this in his news hour:
"Smartmatic, the voting technology company, has been indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on charges related to an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme involving officials in the Philippines. The indictment, filed on October 16, 2025, adds Smartmatic and its parent company, SGO Corporation Ltd., as defendants in a criminal case that was initially brought against three of its executives in August 2024. The charges allege a decade-long scheme in which Smartmatic directed $1 million in bribes to top Philippine election officials to secure government contracts worth approximately $199 million for the 2016 presidential election.

The executives previously charged include Roger Alejandro Piñate Martinez, Jorge Miguel Vasquez, and Elie Moreno, who are accused of foreign bribery and money laundering. Prosecutors also allege that funds from Smartmatic’s $282 million contract with Los Angeles County were funneled into “slush funds” originally established to pay bribes. One of the Smartmatic executives allegedly transferred money from the LA County contract into these accounts in 2019, though it is not confirmed whether bribes were actually paid using those funds.

Smartmatic has denied all allegations, calling the indictment “targeted, political and unjust” and claiming it is being misled by powerful interests despite its cooperation with authorities. A company spokesperson stated the charges are a “photocopy of the previous spurious indictment” and vowed to contest them vigorously.

This development is unfolding alongside Smartmatic’s ongoing $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which the company filed after the network aired claims that it rigged the 2020 U.S. presidential election to benefit Joe Biden. Newsmax settled a similar lawsuit with Smartmatic for $40 million, and One America News Network also settled for an undisclosed amount.

Although the investigation began under the Biden administration, enforcement of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) cases had been paused earlier in 2025 under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump. However, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced in June 2025 that FCPA enforcement was resuming, focusing on cases impacting U.S. national security and economic competitiveness."
Maybe Solomon needs to talk to his handler before he says anything... wth is that report, it's nothing.
News article:
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/just-in-smartmatic-indicted-for-alleged-bribery-scheme/
Superseding Indictment:
https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/znvnnwmrgvl/Smartmatic-superseding.pdf
Finchem SS on previous 2023 charges of receiving bribes, vs giving the bribe this time-
https://markfinchem.substack.com/p/smartmatic-indicted

DOJ Link and Summary-
Federal Prosecutors Charge Smartmatic Executives for Bribing Election Officials More than $1 Million in Philippines

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida returned an indictment today charging three executives of an election voting machine and service provider company and a former Chairman of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) of the Republic of the Philippines for their roles in an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme to retain and obtain business related to the 2016 Philippine elections.

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 U.S. citizen and resident of Davie, Florida, together with others, allegedly caused at least $1 million in bribes to be paid to Juan Andres Donato Bautista, 60, the former Chairman of COMELEC. These bribes were allegedly paid to obtain and retain business related 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 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.
https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/four-men-charged-philippine-bribery-and-money-laundering-scheme

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