Prince George’s County Police Lieutenant Facing Federal Charges for Attempting to Evade or Defeat Taxes for Years 2014 Through 2019

Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal criminal complaint has been filed charging Edward Scott Finn, age 46, of Dunkirk, Maryland, for the federal charges of attempting to evade or defeat taxes for tax years 2014 through 2019.  Finn is a Lieutenant with the Prince George’s County Police Department and owned and operated Edward Finn Inc. (EFI).  EFI employs off-duty law enforcement officers to provide security services to apartment complexes and other businesses, primarily in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties.  Finn was arrested on April 22, 2021 and will have an initial appearance today at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gina L. Simms.

The federal charges were announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Acting Special Agent in Charge Darrell Waldon of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Jennifer C. Boone of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Finn allegedly omitted a total of $1.3 million of EFI income on his 2014 through 2019 individual income tax returns.  During that time frame, the affidavit alleges that Finn deposited approximately $1,397,295 of checks written for services from EFI into his personal bank account or into his children’s bank accounts.  These security service deposits were not reported as income on EFI’s corporate tax returns for tax years 2014 through 2019, nor as income on Finn’s personal tax returns.  This underreported income resulted in a total tax loss to the government of $484,281.

If convicted, Finn faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each of five counts of attempting to evade and defeat taxes.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

A criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by criminal complaint is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner commended the IRS-CI and the FBI and for their work in the investigation and thanked the Prince George’s County Police Department and the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for their assistance.  Mr. Lenzner thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas M. Sullivan and Thomas P. Windom, who are prosecuting this case.

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