Edward J. Kincade Sentenced for Faking Fed Background Checks

Edward J. Kincade, 63, of Guyton, Ga., is headed to jail for cooking the books on national security. The former contractor for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was sentenced today to 60 days behind bars for falsifying more than 30 federal background investigations—lying about conducting interviews and reviewing records that never happened. The case, prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips, exposes a crack in the foundation of America’s security clearance system.

Kincade, who worked under contract through USIS—formerly U.S. Investigations Services Inc.—pleaded guilty in August 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to making a false statement. He was sentenced by Judge Randolph D. Moss. Beyond jail time, Kincade will serve three years of supervised release, including six months under home detention, complete 100 hours of community service, and repay the federal government $264,312 in restitution.

Between August 2011 and September 2012, Kincade signed off on Reports of Investigation claiming he had verified details through source interviews and document reviews. The truth? He fabricated the work. These weren’t routine checks—they were critical vetting procedures for federal employees and contractors requiring access to classified information, public trust positions, and national security-sensitive roles.

His fraud forced the Federal Investigative Services—now the National Background Investigations Bureau—to reopen and rework dozens of compromised investigations. The cost: a minimum of $264,312 in taxpayer funds wasted on backtracking through Kincade’s lies. The bureau’s integrity assurance program, which includes audits and verification protocols, ultimately caught the falsifications—proving that oversight, however belated, still works.

This isn’t an isolated breach. Since 2008, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. has prosecuted 24 individuals—including 22 background investigators and two record checkers—for similar fraud. Kincade’s case adds to a growing pattern of contractors cutting corners on national security work, raising alarms about accountability in the billion-dollar vetting industry.

Federal Investigative Services employs roughly 5,400 field investigators who conduct over two million background checks a year. In fiscal 2015 alone, more than 600,000 involved access to classified data. Each report relies on verified interviews and documentation. When someone like Kincade shortcuts the process, they don’t just break the law—they risk the safety of the entire system.