In a recent development, Roger Piate, the founder and President of Smartmatic, a voting-machine company, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Florida.
The charges leveled against him include bribery and money laundering, which he allegedly used to secure election contracts in the Philippines.
As reported by The Post Millennial, federal prosecutors have stated that between 2015 and 2018, Piate, a 49-year-old Venezuelan-American residing in Boca Ratn, Florida, along with Jorge Miguel Vasquez, a 62-year-old from Davie, Florida, and two other unidentified men, were implicated in a scheme involving the payment of $1 million in bribes. The recipient of these bribes was Juan Andres Donato Bautista, the former chairman of the Philippines Commission on Elections.
The Department of Justice, in a press release, stated, 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 accused allegedly inflated the cost of each voting machine to finance the bribes. To obscure their illicit activities, they employed coded language to discuss the slush fund used for the payments and orchestrated the creation of fraudulent contracts and bogus loan agreements to justify the transfers.
The group is also accused of laundering the illicit funds through bank accounts located in Asia, Europe, and the United States, including in the Southern District of Florida.
The indictment charges Bautista, Piate, Vasquez, and Elie Moreno, 44, with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international laundering of monetary instruments. If convicted, they could face a maximum penalty of 20 years for each count.
Piate, along with fellow Venezuelans Antonio Mugica and Alfredo Jos Anzola, founded Smartmatic in 2000. The company was selected by Venezuelan president Hugo Chvez in 2004 to replace the countrys voting machines. Smartmatic expanded in 2006 by acquiring Sequoia Voting Systems, but later announced its divestment from the company, as per the El Neuvo Herald.
This case serves as a stark reminder of the importance of maintaining integrity in the electoral process, a cornerstone of our democratic system. It also underscores the need for rigorous oversight and transparency in the operations of companies that provide essential election services.
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