A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida has 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. The charges pertain to their alleged involvement in a bribery and money laundering scheme related to the 2016 Philippine elections.
The indictment states that between 2015 and 2018, Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, 49, a Venezuelan citizen residing in Boca Raton, Florida, and Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, a U.S. citizen residing in Davie, Florida, along with others, allegedly facilitated at least $1 million in bribes to Juan Andres Donato Bautista, 60, the former Chairman of COMELEC. These bribes were purportedly aimed at securing business for providing voting machines and election services for the 2016 Philippine elections and ensuring payments on these contracts, including the release of value-added tax payments.
The co-conspirators allegedly financed these bribes through a slush fund created by over-invoicing the cost per voting machine for the 2016 elections. To conceal these corrupt payments' nature and purpose, they used coded language to refer to the slush fund and created fraudulent contracts and sham loan agreements to justify transfers. They 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.
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. Bautista, Pinate, Vasquez, and Elie Moreno, 44, a dual citizen of Venezuela and Israel, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international laundering of monetary instruments. If convicted, Pinate and Vasquez each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the FCPA-related counts. Bautista, Pinate, Vasquez, and Moreno each face up to 20 years for each count related to international laundering of monetary instruments.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri; U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami; and Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) Miami announced this development.
HSI’s El Dorado Task Force Miami is investigating with assistance from IRS CI Miami.
Trial Attorneys Michael DiLorenzo and Connor Mullin along with Assistant Chief Alexander Kramer from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Emery for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting this case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs alongside Philippine authorities provided substantial assistance.
The Fraud Section handles investigations concerning FCPA matters among others. More information about FCPA enforcement can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
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