JAKARTA - On November 2, 2012, the United States (US) Secret Service agent who was tasked with protecting US President Barack Obama, Rafael Prieto, was found dead. He died in the car that was still running. Prieto's death was reportedly due to suicide by inhaling carbon monoxide.
"Rafael Prieto had an extraordinary 20-year career with the Secret Service marked by achievement, dedication and camaraderie," Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said in a statement.
"The Secret Service is mourning the loss of a valuable companion."
The Secret Service is made up of plainclothes agents, who directly look after the president, vice president and their families. In addition there are uniformed officers who perform support services.
Citing the BBC, Prieto is under investigation because he did not report his relationship with a foreign woman. Prieto himself is actually a married man who has one child. He is known to have a secret relationship with a Mexican citizen.
Prieto's relationship with the Mexican woman was reported by a Secret Service agent involved in the Cartagena Scandal. The agent said his colleague, a fellow Secret Service agent, was not doing a good job.
The Secret Service said women in a relationship with Prieto did not jeopardize national security. However, Prieto violated the administration because he did not follow the rules of the Secret Service to report all relations with foreign nationals.
Cartagena Scandal
The Secret Service was then given extra scrutiny for abusing its work while guarding US President Barack Obama in Colombia in April 2012. Following the Cartagena Scandal, the agency issued a stricter code of conduct for agents traveling abroad.
These include bans on drinking while on duty, visiting "places of bad repute" and bringing strangers into hotel rooms. The Cartagena scandal began with a group of military members and Secret Service agents throwing a party at the Pley Club Cartagena, which is described as Colombia's top strip club.
Secret Service agents paid 60 US dollars to each club owner to take several women to the Caribe Hotel, where they were staying. The next morning one of the women demanded a lot of money and an argument ensued.
ABC News reported agents insulted the woman's work and compared her job to protecting the president. A government investigation concluded their actions did not jeopardize the president's safety.
Even so, the incident was considered an embarrassment to the Secret Service. The Director of the Secret Service issued a stricter code of conduct after the incident.
Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said they carried out a "comprehensive" investigation that included more than two hundred interviews of all 135 Secret Service personnel following the visit in Colombia.
They also questioned Colombian law enforcement officials, hotel employees and some of the women involved. Donovan also said that the Secret Service was doing everything it could to gather information.
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