Four people have been charged as part of an elaborate money laundering and bribery ring.
The charge came from a grand jury in the Southern District of Florida and revolved around the subject of the 2016 Philippine elections.
The indictment focuses on Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, Jorge Miguel Vasquez, Juan Andres Donato Bautista, and Elie Moreno.
Philippine election quartet charged
According to the court documents, the charges will cover the period from 2015 until 2018. During this time, Bautista, the former Chairman of COMELEC, is alleged to have received $1 million in bribes.
Along with a plot of others, Martinez and Vasquez tried to sway the former president of the Venezuelan voting. The Department of Justice said, “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.”
The group reportedly overcharged for voting machines used during the elections. This overcharging funded a slush fund, which was controlled via coded language and later used to create a lattice of fake financial agreements.
Using a network of international accounts, the group laundered the money. These bank accounts resided in Asia, Europe, and the United States. The funds would also be illegally funneled through the Southern District of Florida, where the indictment was unsealed against the group.
The Justice Department statement said, “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.”
Pinate and Vasquez could face five years in prison for the FCPA and conspiracy to violate the FCPA counts. Bautista, Pinate, Vasquez, and Moreno could each be sentenced to twenty years for each count of international laundering of monetary instruments and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Image: Photo by Krisia; Pexels
