Aug 9 (Reuters) - Three executives of voting technology

company Smartmatic have been charged with funneling $1 million

in bribes to a former Philippine election official to secure the

country's business, according to U.S. federal prosecutors in

Florida.

Smartmatic's president and co-founder, Roger Alejandro

Pinate Martinez, 49, and two co-defendants were charged with

foreign bribery and money laundering alongside a former chairman

of the Philippine Commission on Elections, the U.S. Department

of Justice said on Thursday.

Smartmatic was not charged and is not accused of wrongdoing.

It said in a statement the indicted employees have been placed

on leave.

"No voter fraud has been alleged and Smartmatic is not

indicted," the statement said.

Lawyers for the defendants could not immediately be

identified.

The indictment comes as Smartmatic is suing Fox Corp ( FOXA )

and conservative commentators for billions of dollars

in damages for allegedly defaming it with false claims that its

machines rigged the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

It is unclear how the indictment could affect those cases,

but Fox could try to use evidence from the criminal case to

bolster its defense.

Federal prosecutors said in a press release that Pinate

conspired with two other Smartmatic executives to pay $1 million

in bribes to Juan Andres Donato Bautista, 60, the former

chairman of the Philippine Commission on Elections, or COMELEC.

Prosecutors said the bribes were paid through a slush fund

created by over-invoicing voting machine costs for the 2016

Philippine elections and then disguised in financial documents

using coded language.

Bautista served on COMELEC from 2015 to 2017, according to

the agency's website. A representative did not immediately

respond to a request for comment.

Smartmatic is suing Fox News for $2.7 billion in damages for

allegedly defaming it with coverage claiming its voting machines

may have helped rig the 2020 U.S. election against

then-President Donald Trump and in favor of Joe Biden, who won.

Fox has denied the allegations, saying its coverage of

newsworthy allegations against Smartmatic was fair and protected

by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The network settled a similar lawsuit by voting machine

company Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million in April

2023.