Maryland man convicted of $18.7 million Medicare fraud and money laundering
A federal jury found Patrick Britton-Harr guilty of five counts of health care fraud and one count of transactional money laundering over billing for respiratory tests.
On 21 October 2026 the US Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland announced that a federal jury convicted Patrick Britton-Harr, 42, of Annapolis, of five counts of health care fraud and one count of transactional money laundering.
According to the US Attorney's Office, Britton-Harr, through his company Provista Health and a laboratory he owned in Arizona, fraudulently billed Medicare $18.7 million for respiratory pathogen panel (RPP) tests during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prosecutors said physicians never ordered the tests and some were never performed, including tests billed for deceased nursing home residents. Medicare paid more than $7.2 million.
Prosecutors said the fraud proceeds paid for a lavish lifestyle, including a $112,500 Porsche 911 and $25,000 monthly mortgage payments on a waterfront home in Annapolis. Britton-Harr faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for each count. A sentencing date has not been set. In June 2026 a federal jury separately found him guilty of six counts of wire fraud in a private-jet charter scheme.
The case was investigated by the HHS Office of Inspector General and the FBI's Baltimore Field Office, and prosecuted with the Justice Department Fraud Division's Health Care Fraud Section.
Why it matters to AML professionals
Health care fraud proceeds often reach banks as large insurance reimbursements paid to a small lab or provider, then move quickly into personal spending. Money laundering charges in these cases are often built on what the proceeds were spent on. AML professionals reviewing health care businesses should compare reimbursement volumes with what the business can plausibly deliver.
Red flags in this case
- A newly active lab or provider receiving a sudden, large increase in government health program payments
- Reimbursement deposits moved quickly to the owner's personal accounts
- Business funds used for luxury vehicles, large mortgage payments or other personal spending
- A provider whose billing volume does not fit its size, staff or location
If this landed in your queue
- Compare the business's health program deposits with its stated services and expected activity
- Trace large outflows to see whether reimbursements are funding personal assets
- Check adverse media and public records for prior fraud convictions of owners
- File a suspicious activity report if the activity suggests billing fraud or laundering of proceeds
Key terms
- Transactional money laundering
- A federal offence of knowingly carrying out a monetary transaction of more than $10,000 with property from certain crimes.
- Respiratory pathogen panel (RPP)
- A lab test that checks a sample for several respiratory viruses and bacteria at once.
Interview angle
What signs in account activity might point to health care billing fraud?
Mention sudden spikes in insurer or government program deposits, volumes that do not fit the business, and rapid transfers of those funds into personal spending or assets.
Sources
Go deeper on AMLift
Every fact in AMLift News Desk stories comes from an official source: a regulator, court, government gazette or the company's own filing.
Report an error
Every report is checked against the official source. If we got something wrong, the story is corrected.