October 20, 2024
The Justice Department believes AeroVanti Founder Patrick Britton-Harr used money from an illegal medical billing scheme to start his private jet company.
Members of AeroVanti believe Founder Patrick Britton-Harr used their money that was supposed to buy airplanes for expensive sports sponsorships and yachts.
The now-released 58-page Department of Justice lawsuit against AeroVanti Founder Patrick Britton-Harr alleging Medicare fraud includes an interesting twist.
The filing claims Britton-Harr used money he received from Medicare for tests that “were not ordered by health care providers, not medically necessary, and sometimes never performed” to launch AeroVanti in 2021.
According to the DOJ’s complaint, “In late summer of 2020, Britton-Harr transferred his financial proceeds from the fraudulent scheme to his other companies and abandoned the healthcare industry.”
The government filing continues, “Britton-Harr then used some of the proceeds of this fraudulent scheme to lease or purchase various aircraft, and he then founded a new company called Aerovanti that provides private charter airplane service.”
The Justice Department filing adds, “Aerovanti describes itself as a ‘perfect match’ ‘for those who enjoy the beauty of aviation, who value dedicated service, and who prioritize extravagance over the ordinary.’
The DOJ also referenced Steve Harr, Britton-Harr’s father Steve Harr.
The filing notes, “In a statement to the Talbot County (Maryland) Council in support of a request from Aerovanti to build a hangar at the county airport, Defendant Britton-Harr’s father stated that his son ‘made quite a bit of money in the healthcare industry. And he kind of got tired of the health care industry and wanted to get into aviation.’”
A June 2021 press release announcing its launch identified the elder Harr as Chief Pilot.
The release stated, “AeroVanti Chief Pilot Steve Harr, a retired international commercial captain, and former U.S. Navy pilot, leads AeroVanti’s flight crews, which include the industry’s best commercial pilots and the military’s premier aviators.”
AeroVanti has been hit with five lawsuits since May.
Three of the lawsuits allege Britton-Harr took money that was supposed to be used to buy and refurbished airplanes and funneled it to sports sponsorships with the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers and buying yachts for a yacht club. Members also say they didn’t receive promised flights.
Lawsuits allege, and multiple sources confirm, that while AeroVanti claimed to have as many as a dozen aircraft, most of the time, only a couple were operational even as it grew to around 400 members.
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