Dania Suarez, the Colombian prostitute at the center of the Secret Service sex scandal, was questioned by American investigators in Spain Thursday, according to a U.S. government spokesperson.
Investigators questioned the 24-year-old at the European Union Embassy in Spain following allegations from two other prostitutes who claimed she offered them $56,000 to drug agents and extract information at the behest of an Arab man Suarez had met previously in Cartagena.
“They flatly refused, because they were afraid of the implications that this could bring,” said the women’s lawyer, Pedro Aponte, who said the two travelled to Bogota after they received death threats over their refusal.
Suarez revealed in a joint interview with W Radio and Caracol TV May 4 that she flew to Dubai, United Arab Emirates following the incident to escape media attention that has “damaged her life.”
“This global smear campaign was orchestrated by the Arab citizen who took Dania Suarez Londoño to Dubai, to avoid harrasment from the international press,” Aponte alleged.
Suarez, who broke the scandal to Colombian authorities, accompanied a Secret Service agent to his hotel room days ahead of the start of the international conference held in Cartagena. Police became involved when the agent refused to pay the escort the $800 he had promised her the night before.
Suarez’ lawyer, Abelardo De La Espriella, accompanied his client during her testimony in Madrid and called the prostitutes’ allegations “a ploy to benefit financially.”
Suarez admitted she could have easily obtained important information from the Secret Service agent, who allegedly left his luggage and files easily accessible while he was sleeping.
“If I was a terrorist I would have been able to do a thousand things,” she said. “I could have gotten security information if I had wanted.”
On May 1 U.S. authorities released a report establishing the prostitutes did not have ties to terrorist organizations or drug cartels.
Secret service scandal news archive
Secret Service agents hired 21 prostitutes days ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama’s arrival for the Summit of the Americas, a political conference that was hosted in Cartagena. Eight agents have lost their jobs as a result of the incident.