Three Smartmatic executives, the voting technology company that has levied lawsuits against right-wing media outlets for their coverage of the company related to the 2020 election, have been charged in connection with an alleged bribery scheme in the Philippines.
Roger Piñate, Smartmatic’s cofounder and president, is among the executives facing U.S. charges, which were released in South Florida federal court on Friday.
According to the Justice Department, Piñate and a colleague funneled bribes to the chairman of the Philippines’ electoral commission Andres Bautista in order “to obtain and retain business related to providing voting machines and election services for the 2016 Philippine elections.”
In a statement released by Smartmatic, the company said, “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.” (A third exec has also been charged, despite their statement’s use of the word “both.”)
“No voter fraud has been alleged and Smartmatic is not indicted,” the statement continued. “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.”
Fox News and Newsmax are currently facing defamation lawsuits from the voting technology company. Both networks deny defaming anyone and maintain that their 2020 election coverage is protected by the First Amendment.
Smartmatic’s foreign involvement is viewed as a vulnerability in these cases, and lawyers for both networks have argued that any criminal prosecution against executives would make it much more difficult to argue a defamation case.
The post Smartmatic Executives Charged by Justice Department Over Alleged Bribery Scheme appeared first on TheWrap.
