Foreign Service Officer Indicted For Wire Fraud

By Tiffany Williams –

On Monday, March 29, at the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, Paul Michael Guertin (“Guertin”), 40, of Arizona who worked as a Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. Department of State, was indicted for wire fraud and obstructing an official proceeding.

As a Foreign Service Officer, Guertin served on multiple State Department assignments, including overseas postings to U.S. diplomatic missions in Shanghai, China and Islamabad, Pakistan, and a posting to the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at State Department headquarters in Washington, DC.

As a condition of his employment, Guertin was required to apply for and maintain a Top Secret security clearance and while doing so he intentionally concealed information on his SF-86 background investigation questionnaires and in interviews with State Department background investigators.

Guertin, allegedly withheld information about several categories of conduct, including an undisclosed sexual relationship with a Chinese national, whose U.S. visa application was adjudicated by Guertin while he was serving as a consular officer in Shanghai, China; undisclosed gambling debts; and an undisclosed $225,000 loan from two Chinese nationals, who were directed by Guertin to provide $45,000 of the initial disbursement in the form of cash in $100 bills.