❓WHAT HAPPENED: Federal prosecutors accused Smartmatic co-founder Roger Piñate of bribing Venezuela’s top election official with a luxury residence in exchange for political favors.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Roger Piñate, election chief Tibisay Lucena Ramírez, and unnamed co-conspirators.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Allegedly between April and July 2019 in Caracas, Venezuela.
💬KEY QUOTE: “We have always operated lawfully, ethically, and transparently. We stand by our two-decade track record of integrity.” – Smartmatic statement
🎯IMPACT: The allegations raise further scrutiny of Smartmatic’s business practices globally and its involvement in elections.
Federal prosecutors have charged Smartmatic co-founder Roger Piñate with multiple counts of bribery and money laundering. They allege he provided a luxury residence in Caracas to Tibisay Lucena Ramírez, Venezuela’s top election official at the time, in exchange for political favors.
Prosecutors claim the property was transferred to Lucena Ramírez through a foreign shell company between April and July 2019, allegedly facilitated by an unnamed co-conspirator. This transfer reportedly occurred despite Smartmatic’s public claim that all business activities in Venezuela had ceased in 2017.
Smartmatic had pulled out of Venezuela after accusing the Maduro regime of committing electoral fraud during the 2017 National Constituent Assembly election. The company said it terminated operations in the country following that incident.
Prosecutors included these Venezuela-related allegations in a separate court filing connected to a $1 million bribery scheme involving Philippine election official Juan Andrés Donato Bautista. In that case, Piñate is accused of inflating the prices of voting machines and diverting the surplus into secret accounts used for bribes.
The U.S. government submitted the Venezuelan allegations to illustrate what they describe as a “pattern of alleged criminal behavior” by Piñate.
Smartmatic has strongly denied the claims. In a statement, the company said: “As an example, the government’s citation of an alleged bribe in Venezuela in 2019 is untethered from reality. Smartmatic ceased all operations in Venezuela in August 2017 after blowing the whistle on the government and has never sought to secure business there again.” The company added, “We have always operated lawfully, ethically, and transparently. We stand by our two-decade track record of integrity.”
Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.