Voting technology firm Smartmatic is seeking to dismiss a criminal indictment for money laundering, blaming President Donald Trump and his allies for seeking its prosecution as part of a “campaign of retribution” against those they blame for his 2020 election loss.
Smartmatic’s parent company, UK-based SGO Corporation, was added to a criminal indictment last Fall previously charging several executives with paying $1 million in bribes to election officials in the Philippines.
In a motion to dismiss the indictment filed Tuesday, attorneys for Smartmatic said the company had been cooperating with the Justice Department since it first learned of its investigation in 2021, including by producing millions of pages of documents and making presentations to federal agents. A trial date for the executives, including co-founder Roger Pinate, had been set and the company believed that it was in the clear.
But when Trump returned to the White House, the Justice Department reversed course and decided to press charges against Smartmatic. Attorneys for the company said the decision was prompted by Trump’s demands to prosecute his perceived enemies and his “mantra” that Smartmatic helped rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election won by Joe Biden — allegations that are at the heart of a a $2.7 billion lawsuit filed by Smartmatic against the president’s allies in the media.
“The prosecution of SGO furthers their collective false narrative that President Trump did not actually lose the 2020 election,” Smartmatic said in the filing in Miami federal court.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Attorneys likened the prosecution to the Justice Department’s targeting of Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, a Salvadoran migrant who was criminally charged for conduct years earlier after he successfully sued the Trump administration over its decision to deport him.
In the years since the election, Smartmatic USA has exercised its right to hold those individuals and entities legally accountable for their deluge of defamatory statements and the attendant damage inflicts on its business, putting it squarely in the crosshairs for retribution.”
The criminal case against Smartmatic and its employees stem from payments, between 2015 and 2018, that were allegedly made to obtain a contract with the Philippines government to help run that country’s 2016 presidential election. Pinate, who no longer works for Smartmatic but remains a shareholder, has pleaded not guilty.
As part of the criminal case, prosecutors in August sought the court’s permission to introduce evidence they argue shows that revenue from a $300 million contract with Los Angeles County to help modernize its voting systems was diverted to a “ slush fund” controlled by Pinate through the use of overseas shell companies, fake invoices and other means.
They also accused Pinate of secretly bribing Venezuela’s longtime election chief by giving her a luxury home with a pool in Caracas. Prosecutors say the home was transferred to the election chief in an attempt to repair relations following Smartmatic’s abrupt exit from Venezuela in 2017 when it accused then President Nicolas Maduro ’s government of manipulating tallied results in elections for a rubber-stamping constituent assembly.
Smartmatic was founded more than two decades ago by a group of Venezuelans who found early success running elections while the late Hugo Chavez, a devotee of electronic voting, was in power. The company later expanded globally, providing voting machines and other technology to help carry out elections in 25 countries, from Argentina to Zambia.
But Smartmatic has said its business tanked after Fox News gave Trump’s lawyers a platform to paint the company as part of a conspiracy to steal the 2020 election.
Fox said it was legitimately reporting on newsworthy events but eventually aired a piece refuting the allegations after Smartmatic’s lawyers complained. Nonetheless, it has aggressively defended itself against the defamation lawsuit in New York — arguing that the company was facing imminent collapse over its own internal misconduct, not due to any negative coverage.
Voting technology company Smartmatic is working to dismiss a criminal indictment for money laundering, claiming that the charges stem from a « campaign of retribution » orchestrated by former President Donald Trump and his allies as punishment for their perceived role in his 2020 election defeat. Smartmatic’s parent company, SGO Corporation based in the UK, was included in a previous indictment brought last Fall, which accused several executives of paying $1 million in bribes to election officials in the Philippines.
In a motion to dismiss the indictment filed recently, Smartmatic’s attorneys asserted that the company had cooperated fully with the Justice Department since the investigation began in 2021, producing millions of documents and presenting information to federal agents. They believed their actions would lead to a resolution without criminal charges. However, following Trump’s return to the White House, the Justice Department shifted its stance and opted to pursue charges against Smartmatic. The company’s legal team attributes this decision to Trump’s demands for prosecution against those he viewed as adversaries and his public claims that Smartmatic contributed to the rigging of the 2020 U.S. presidential election won by Joe Biden. These allegations are central to a separate $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit that Smartmatic filed against associates of Trump in the media.
Smartmatic’s motion claims that the indictment perpetuates a false narrative intended to suggest that Trump did not lose the 2020 election. They equate their situation to that of Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, a Salvadoran migrant charged criminally after he successfully sued the Trump administration over a deportation matter. The company argues that by holding its critics legally accountable for defamatory remarks, it has placed itself in jeopardy of retaliation.
The charges against Smartmatic and its executives relate to alleged payments made between 2015 and 2018 aimed at securing a contract with the Philippine government for its 2016 presidential election. Co-founder Roger Pinate, who is no longer with Smartmatic but retains shares, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Prosecutors have claimed, in ongoing criminal proceedings, that evidence will demonstrate that the revenue from a $300 million contract with Los Angeles County, intended for modernizing its voting technologies, was diverted to create a “slush fund” controlled by Pinate using overseas shell companies and fraudulent invoices. Further allegations indicate that Pinate secretly bribed Venezuela’s election chief through a luxury home in Caracas, intending to mend relations after Smartmatic exited the Venezuelan market in 2017 under accusations that the Maduro government manipulated election results.
Founded over two decades ago by Venezuelans, Smartmatic initially found success during the tenure of former President Hugo Chavez, who favored electronic voting. It later expanded its operations globally, providing voting technology for countries ranging from Argentina to Zambia. However, Smartmatic asserts that its business has significantly declined following Fox News’ airing of claims linking the company to a conspiracy to manipulate the 2020 election outcome.
Fox News has defended its reporting as legitimate journalism but did air a segment refuting the allegations after Smartmatic’s legal complaints. Despite this, Smartmatic continues to assert that its significant business troubles are attributable more to its internal misconduct than to the negative media portrayal it has faced.
