The former director of the Office of Emergency Medical Services was sentenced to six years in prison for embezzling $4.3 million from the Virginia Department of Health.
Adam Lamar Harrell, 42, of Midlothian, was sentenced for charges related to mail fraud, federal program theft and tax evasion in connection with a scheme to misappropriate millions of dollars from VDH.
In addition to his term of imprisonment, the court ordered Harrell to pay $6,254,458.72 in restitution to the victims of his crimes.
The consent order of forfeiture imposed not only a monetary judgement for the full proceeds Harrell obtained but also called for the forfeiture of assets purchased using the proceeds including real estate, vehicles, assorted firearms, high-end watches and diamond stud earrings.
To date, the government has been able to recover $660,359.74 from the sales of two real properties, a vehicle and other assets.
According to court records, Harrell was an employee of VDH since 2013 and became associate director of the OEMS in 2019.
As 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.
VDH Commissioner Dr. Karen Shelton requested an internal audit after finding “significant financial irregularities.” The audit found multi-million contracts that bypassed state procurement rules as well as the improper allocation of grant funds.
“Lack of oversight and internal controls within OEMS led to financial irregularities and criminal fraud that had impacts at state, regional and local EMS levels,” said Shelton. “While these findings are difficult to confront, VDH has been taking proactive measures to address these issues which will lead to a well-supported EMS system across the Commonwealth.
Read more about the changes that were implemented at OEMS.
Federal program theft: $4.3M
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.
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, 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.
In total, Harrell received $4,337,395 in funds through this scheme.
Tax fraud: $1.8 million
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.
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Crystal Graham
