With the coronavirus raging across America, a man from Annapolis saw an opportunity, federal prosecutors now say.

Patrick Britton-Harr set up several health-related companies and then used them to bill Medicare $15 million for COVID-19 tests for nursing home patients, authorities allege. The tests, however, were not medically necessary, were never actually ordered by a doctor or were not actually performed, with some even billed for dead patients.

After he’d made millions from fraudulent coronavirus tests, Britton-Harr moved onto another scheme, the authorities said. As owner and CEO of a private aviation company, he convinced at least 100 customers to pay a combined $15 million to have jets on demand.

But instead of investing his customers’ dollars in planes, federal authorities say, he spent it to support a lavish lifestyle including yachts, jewelry and a rental property near Tampa, Florida.

A pair of indictments unsealed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for Maryland charge Britton-Harr, 41, with a dozen crimes.

In the Medicare-related indictment, he faces five counts of health care fraud and one count of money laundering. The other, which describes a scheme to dupe investors in his private jet company, features six counts of wire fraud.

If convicted, the maximum penalties for the charges add up to 180 years in prison. However, defendants in federal court rarely face the harshest penalties, as judges consider a range of factors, including someone’s criminal record or lack thereof, before handing down sentences.

Britton-Harr does not have an attorney listed in online court records. He could not be reached for comment.

Federal authorities denounced his behavior in statements announcing the indictment.

William J. DelBagno, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office, said Britton-Harr’s alleged “repeated crimes reveal a man with no moral compass motivated by pure greed. His deceit and scheming resulted in a staggering amount of loss to American taxpayers and the public.”

“He tried to fleece the U.S. government out of millions by taking advantage of a national crisis,” DelBagno added. “After his laboratory testing business failed, Britton-Harr again turned to deception. Time and again, he chose to lie, steal, and deceive.”

Maryland U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes said Britton-Harr “showed a total disregard” for people who rely on Medicare and customers who invested in the private jet business.

“It is unconscionable for someone to defraud the government and others for personal gain, especially as we faced a global health crisis,” Hayes said.

According to the first indictment, Britton-Harr controlled four health care companies: Provista Health LLC, Coastal Laboratories Inc., Coastal Management Group Inc. and AMS Onsite Inc. He offered COVID-19 testing through those companies after the coronavirus emerged and rapidly spread through America beginning in 2020.

The tests he offered were known as respiratory pathogen panel, or RPP, tests and were used in addition to common COVID-19 tests. The indictment says Britton-Harr “caused” these tests to be performed when patients didn’t need them and doctors hadn’t ordered them.

Provista billed Medicare for the RRP tests, receiving reimbursements adding up to $15 million, according to the indictment. Britton-Harr allegedly transferred that money from Provista’s bank account into his own, using it to purchase real estate, cars and “other luxury items.”

From at least 2021, according to the second indictment, Britton-Harr served as CEO of the aviation company he owned, AeroVanti. In that capacity, he came up with the concept of having a class of customers known as “Top Gun” members who would have prepaid flight hours on jets he had yet to purchase.

He convinced 100 customers to chip in $150,000 each for this membership, saying the funds would be used to purchase five planes. Prosecutors say he misled customers by phone, text and email, leading them to believe he was close to purchasing aircraft.

Investigators traced AeroVanti funds into and out of his accounts. In September 2022, the indictment says, he used $306,000 of Top Gun customer funds to buy a yacht named “the Triple Lindy.” On Oct. 11, 2022, he used $30,000 of his customers’ dollars to pay rent on the Tampa property.