Smartmatic president, 2 other execs charged with bribing Philippines election official: DOJ

The president of voting machine company Smartmatic and two other executives were charged with bribing the head of the Philippines election commission in order to get business during the 2016 election, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Between 2015 and 2018, Smartmatic co-founder Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, 49, and Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, together with others, allegedly caused at least $1 million in bribes to be paid to Juan Andres Donato Bautista, 60, the former chairman of the Philippines' Commission on Elections (COMELEC), according to an indictment filed in the Southern District of Florida.

The men allegedly overpaid contracts using a slush fund to conceal the bribes.

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, according to prosecutors.

Pinate and Vasquez are each charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and one substantive violation of the FCPA, the DOJ said. Bautista, Pinate, Vasquez, and Elie Moreno, 44, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international laundering of monetary instruments.

"Smartmatic has learned that two of our employees have been indicted for alleged violations of the FCPA in the Philippines almost 10 years ago," the company said in a statement on X Friday. "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."

The company added, "No voter fraud has been alleged and Smartmatic is not indicted. 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 by."

ABC News was not immediately able to reach the defendants for comment.