A federal jury in the District of Maryland convicted a laboratory owner yesterday for taking advantage of nursing homes that needed COVID-19 tests during the pandemic and fraudulently billing Medicare more than $18 million for other expensive respiratory tests that nursing home residents did not need, physicians did not order, and, in many cases, were never performed.
“Mr. Britton-Harr’s decision to exploit elderly nursing‑home residents and inexperienced interns for personal gain during a global pandemic is unconscionable. This verdict reinforces our message: there is nowhere to hide for those who commit fraud. We will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” said U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes for the District of Maryland. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office, along with our law-enforcement partners, remains committed to rooting out fraud and holding accountable those who exploit our vulnerable victims and who steal our taxpayer money.”
“This verdict sends a clear message: the FBI will aggressively pursue anyone who steals from American taxpayers,” said FBI Baltimore Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul. “Patrick Britton-Harr will now face the consequences of his greed and brazen crimes. In addition to this healthcare fraud scheme, Britton-Harr was previously convicted for investment fraud in which the FBI uncovered a separate scheme where he defrauded private citizens. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will not rest until fraudsters like Mr. Britton Harr are brought to justice.”
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Patrick Britton-Harr, 42, of Annapolis, offered COVID-19 tests to nursing homes across the country in 2020 when these facilities were desperate for COVID-19 testing services. After specimens were collected from nursing home residents and other laboratories performed COVID-19 testing, Britton-Harr billed Medicare for separate, high-priced respiratory pathogen panel (RPP) tests purportedly conducted in a laboratory he owned in Arizona. Britton-Harr falsely claimed to Medicare that treating physicians ordered these extensive RPP tests, which screened for more than 30 respiratory pathogens. In reality, physicians never ordered the tests for their nursing home patients, and several physicians testified at trial they had never ordered an RPP test for any patient during the entirety of their medical careers.
Through his company, Provista Health, Britton-Harr fraudulently billed Medicare $18.7 million for RPP testing purportedly performed in just six months, of which Medicare paid more than $7.2 million. Evidence at trial demonstrated how Britton-Harr exploited inexperienced employees, including a family member and high school and college aged interns, by directing them to bill Medicare for an RPP test every time a COVID-19 test was performed. Britton-Harr further directed the billing of RPP tests supposedly performed at his Arizona laboratory after he had already closed the laboratory, barred staff from working in the laboratory, and no longer had the equipment necessary to run RPP tests. Additional evidence at trial proved that Britton-Harr billed Medicare for RPP tests that were never performed, including billing for tests for nursing home residents who were already deceased.
Britton-Harr used the proceeds of his fraud scheme to fund a lavish lifestyle, purchasing, among other things, a $112,500 Porsche 911, and making $25,000 monthly mortgage payments on his Annapolis waterfront mansion.
Photograph of the Porsche 911 Britton-Harr purchased in December 2020 using proceeds of his Medicare fraud scheme
Photograph of the Annapolis mansion for which Britton-Harr made monthly $25,000 mortgage payments using proceeds of his Medicare fraud scheme
The jury convicted Britton-Harr of five counts of health care fraud and one count of transactional money laundering. Britton-Harr faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
HHS-OIG and FBI investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Chris Wenger of the Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ari Evans for the District of Maryland are prosecuting the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the Fraud Division. The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.