Smartmatic executives face bribery charges in the Philippines, with federal prosecutors alleging money laundering and other crimes related to over $1 million in bribes paid to election officials between 2015 and 2018. The payments secured a contract with the Philippines government for the 2016 presidential election. Three former executives, including co-founder Roger Pinate, were previously charged in 2024, but Smartmatic itself was not named as a defendant at that time. Pinate, no longer employed by Smartmatic, has pleaded not guilty. This case unfolds as Smartmatic pursues a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, accusing them of spreading false claims about the company's involvement in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Smartmatic denies the bribery allegations, attributing them to political influence by unnamed powerful interests. Prosecutors seek evidence of revenue diversion from a $300 million Los Angeles County contract to a 'slush fund' controlled by Pinate, and accuse him of bribing Venezuela's election chief with a luxury home. A hearing on this evidence is scheduled for next month, but none of the accusations are mentioned in the superseding indictment. Smartmatic, founded by Venezuelans, gained success under Hugo Chavez's electronic voting system. However, the company's business suffered after Fox News reported on Trump's lawyers' claims of a conspiracy to steal the 2020 election, leading to a defamation lawsuit in New York.
