Former Office of Emergency Medical Services associate director pleads guilty to embezzling $4 million from the Virginia Department of Health

Date: July 26, 2024

Contact: [email protected]

A Midlothian man pled guilty yesterday to mail fraud, federal program theft, and tax evasion in connection with a scheme to misappropriate millions of dollars from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH).

According to court documents, beginning on Aug. 10, 2013, Adam Lamar Harrell was an employee of VDH and on Sept. 10, 2019, became the Associate Director of the Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS). As OEMS's Associate Director, Harrell was responsible for managing Virginia's emergency response programs, epidemiology research, and the information technology systems that Virginia's emergency medical service providers rely on, among other responsibilities.

Harrell used his position to direct payments from VDH to a company he registered and controlled, Strategic Tech Innovations, LLC. Harrell concealed his ownership of and affiliation with Strategic Tech from VDH and OEMS and used this entity to embezzle funds from his employer through two separate means.

From January 2021 through May 2023, Harrell created 15 fraudulent invoices for services and technology that Strategic Tech would purportedly provide to OEMS. Harrell set exorbitant and non-market prices for the various line items on the invoices, knowing the vast majority of those items would not be provided by Strategic Tech. Without OEMS's knowledge or approval, Harrell would submit these fraudulent invoices to the Western Virginia EMS Council (WVEMS), a regional emergency medical services council that serves as a pass-through for OEMS payments to vendors. Each of these invoices were paid by WVEMS with OEMS funds. By directing the invoices to WVEMS instead of Accounts Payable at OEMS, Harrell circumvented the requirement that Strategic Tech be approved as a vendor to VDH and OEMS and evaded scrutiny by the Accounts Payable department. As the Associate Director of OEMS, Harrell was able to unilaterally approve the same fraudulent Strategic Tech invoices he drafted.

Harrell deposited each of the checks he illegally received from WVEMS into the Strategic Tech checking account he controlled and used the funds for personal expenses, including the purchase of real estate, luxury vehicles, dozens of firearms, and jewelry. In total, Harrell received $4,337,395 in OEMS funds.

On March 9, 2021, Harrell filed a joint federal income tax return with his spouse for tax year 2020. On the IRS Form Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business, Harrell reported being the sole proprietor of Strategic Tech, reporting $193,076 in gross receipts. He falsely reported expenses for Strategic Tech of $200,340, for a net loss of $7,264, fraudulently lowering his taxable income and generating a refund of $934. Harrell then ceased reporting any income from Strategic Tech on the federal income tax returns he filed for tax years 2021, 2022, and 2023. From November 2020 through March 2024, Harrell evaded a total of $1,880,287.34 in income taxes.

Harrell is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 20. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Kareem A. Carter, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge of the Washington D.C. Field Office; and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Richmond Field Office, made the announcement after U.S. Magistrate Judge Summer L. Speight accepted the plea.

The Virginia State Police and the Office of the State Inspector General provided significant assistance in the investigation of this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas A. Garnett and Kashan Pathan are prosecuting the case.

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