The justice department is claiming in a recent court filing that three Smartmatic executives indicted last year on bribery and money laundering charges transferred money from a 2018 voting machine contract with Los Angeles county into slush funds that were initially set up to pay bribes to election officials in Venezuela and the Philippines between 2012 and 2016. Prosecutors state that one of the executives transferred an undisclosed amount from the $282m LA county contract into the slush funds in 2019 but did not say if anyone received bribes from the county’s money at that point.
The government seeks to prove the funds were part of a long pattern of bribing election officials by Smartmatic, the voting machine company that filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News after the 2020 election. Prosecutors are requesting a Florida court to allow evidence about the LA county money to illustrate the executives’ management of their alleged bribery and money laundering scheme.
While the county barred the three executives from any further association with its Smartmatic contract, it did not “debar” the company itself. The county can terminate a contract if a vendor provides improper consideration, such as travel, entertainment, or tangible gifts to secure favor, to a county officer or employee. Dean Logan, the county’s registrar-recorder and county clerk who oversees elections and the Smartmatic contract, maintains he complied with the reporting requirements for gifts he received from Smartmatic.
Smartmatic has faced controversies since its founding in Florida in 1999, including a 2004 contract with Venezuela, allegations of overcharging the Philippines government for voting machines, and allegations of improper payments to election officials. The company lost its first attempt to enter the US elections market in 2006 due to concerns about its ties to the Venezuelan government. In 2019, Smartmatic gained a contract with Los Angeles county, which has extension options through 2033.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/20/smartmatic-voting-machines-bribery
