As highlighted in this prior post, in August 2024 the DOJ announced that a “federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida returned an indictment … 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. […] 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.”
Although not mentioned in the indictment, the company at issue is Smartmatic (and related entities).
The individuals charged with Foreign Corrupt Practices Act offenses were:
- Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez (a citizen of Venezuela and resident of Florida described as a cofounder, Chief Operating Officer and President of Company 1 who was also and employee of Company 2); and
- Jorge Miguel Vasquez (a citizen of the U.S. and executive for Company 2 in Florida who managed hardware development and manufacturing worldwide for Company 1 who reported to Pinate).
In addition, Pinate, Vasquez and Juan Andres Donate Bautista and Elie Moreno were charged with a variety of money laundering offenses.
- Bautista is described as the Chairman of COMELEC (an independent agency mandated to enforce and administer election laws in the Philippines) from on or about April 28, 2015, to in or around October 2017.
- Moreno is described as follows: “a dual citizen of Venezuela and Israel, was a Company 1 executive involved in managing Companies 1 and 3’s contracts with COMELEC in the Philippines. He served as project director for Company 3 and a Company 1 subsidiary in the Philippines, and he signed and implemented the 2016 Philippine elections contracts with COMELEC.”
Recently, Pinate and Vasquez filed a motion to continue deadlines in the case as a result of President Trump’s February 10th Executive Order titled “Pausing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement to Further American Economic and National Security.”
In summary fashion, the motion states:
“On February 10, 2025, the President issued an Executive Order pausing enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which, in relevant part, ordered the Attorney General to review existing FCPA prosecutions over the course of an 180-day period. In recent days and weeks, judges in other pending FCPA matters have stayed or continued deadlines in those matters, to allow that review to proceed without wasting the resources of courts or litigants.
The Defendants understand that the Department of Justice is presently reviewing this matter, and they are preparing a written submission in connection with that review, although the contours and specifics of that review remain unclear— who within the Department is conducting the review following the removal of the Fraud Section chief last week, based on what criteria and on what timeline. While this matter is not set for trial until October 2025, this Court has set a deadline of March 28, 2025, for dispositive motions. In light of the ongoing review, and the significant resources needed to prepare and file those motions, the Defendants respectfully request that this Court extend this lone deadline (and the deadlines for responses and replies) by 30 days. Mr. Piñate’s counsel has conferred with the government on this request, and the government has advised that it will review the Defendants’ motion and respond accordingly.”
