Democratic Maryland senator, his brother and his police officer charged with alleged extortion

A Democratic senator from Maryland is accused of orchestrating a scheme to secretly record two critics — including a former campaign consultant — in bed together, then using the footage to threaten and silence them, according to a newly unsealed federal indictment.

Federal prosecutors say Maryland state Sen. Dalya Attar, her brother Joseph “Yossi” Attar and Baltimore police officer Kalman Finkelstein secretly filmed the two men in an intimate encounter, then used the recording to intimidate and silence them.

The 20-page indictment, unsealed Thursday, accuses the trio of conspiracy, extortion, illegal wiretapping and travel law violations.

Prosecutors say the group targeted the consultant, identified as Victim 1, who had worked for Attar’s campaign in 2018 and later supported his political rivals. Victim 2 was in a romantic relationship with Victim 1 and was married to another person at the time, according to the documents.

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According to the indictment, the defendants placed hidden cameras disguised as smoke detectors and a tracking device in the victims’ apartment, then viewing footage showing the two men in bed together.

Prosecutors say the recording was then used to threaten to be revealed if either victim spoke publicly against Attar or supported his opponents.

In early 2021, Attar reportedly discussed how to shut down potential criticism, saying in a WhatsApp message: “We have a very simple…simple way to get her to shut up and leave us alone….She is worried about her children’s shidduchim.”

She reportedly added: “I’m not saying we’ll leak this anywhere or do that… but I’m saying we’re warning her… ‘If you continue and make fun of me, we’re going to leak it.'”

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Maryland State Senator Dalya Attar and two others were federally indicted on October 30, 2025, on charges of extortion and conspiracy. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

In December 2021, Joseph Attar allegedly met one of the victims at a Baltimore mall and warned him: “I have hours of footage of you in bed with (Victim 1)… Go to (Victim 1) and say leave Dalya alone… or I will share this video with everyone you know – every rabbi in town, your kids, your wife, her daughters.”

Prosecutors say the threats continued into 2022, with the defendants allegedly working to ensure both victims remained silent ahead of Attar’s re-election campaign. The indictment also says the three men coordinated via encrypted WhatsApp messages, which they regularly deleted to avoid detection.

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Dalya Attar (far right) is accused of secretly filming two critics in bed together in an attempt to silence them. (Karl Merton Ferron/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

The charges carry potential sentences of decades in prison. Attar’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley told FOX 45 that Finkelstein has served in administrative capacity since 2022 and no longer holds police powers.

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Attar, a Democrat and former Baltimore prosecutor, was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2018 and appointed to the state Senate in January 2025.

She was considered a rising figure in Maryland’s Orthodox Jewish community.