Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia on Thursday said that a foreign entity linked to Smartmatic could be behind the “demolition job” against him after documents revealed that a consulting firm deposited offshore bank accounts under Garcia’s name.
In a press briefing, Garcia identified a certain Jaleo Consulting LLC- a firm allegedly owned by Jose A. Herrera, made the deposits to his alleged offshore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands.
Research on Herrera’s identity online showed he was the director of Albatross Technologies Corporation, which shared the address of Smartmatic in the US.
“Herrera also served as the legal counsel for Smartmatic and was the father-in-law of one of the owners of the service provider,” Garcia added.
The poll body disqualified Smartmatic to participate in all Comelec procurements after it failed to comply with certain minimum system capabilities that resulted in serious and grave irregularities in the transmission and receipt of election returns during the 2022 polls.
Rep. Rodante Marcoleta earlier claimed that Garcia received money from South Korean banks in exchange for favoring Miru Systems Inc. to supply the Comelec with automated counting machines for 2025 national and Local elections.
Garcia questioned that a company and a former service provider have the same address in Barbados.
“Why is the address in Barbados…of this company, similar to the address of our former provider? Is this a coincidence?” he asked.
Garcia said he is studying to file legal action against individuals behind the demolition job against him and the entire Comelec.
“The use of my name and the alleged adding of a social security number on the “tampered” bank history is a violation of US’ anti-money laundering law and may be considered as bank fraud and identity theft,” he said.
He said that is a direct intervention on the country’s elections by a foreign entity and should not be allowed.
Meanwhile, Smartmatic denied the allegations, describing it as “unfair and unjust.”
