Virginia Health Department Employee Embezzles $4 Million
Adam Harrell, a former Virginia Health Department Associate Director, pleaded guilty to embezzling $4.1 million. Photo by the Virginia Department of Health.
One high-level administrator betrayed the trust of his employer and his state when he billed the government for millions in fraudulent invoices, which he then pocketed, prosecutors say.
A Virginia Health Department employee, Adam Lamar Harrell, 41, a former Associate Director of the Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS), pled guilty to stealing a total of $4,337,395 from his employer, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia.
Harrell started with the Virginia Health Department in August 2013 and worked his way up to Associate Director by OEMS in September 2019. His responsibilities included managing and maintaining information technology systems, emergency response programs and epidemiology research, as detailed in the press release.
While working at the Health Department, Harrell registered and controlled a company called Strategic Tech Innovations, LLC and used it to funnel funds from his employer into a business checking account he opened at SunTrust Bank in November 2020, according to the indictment. He concealed his connection with Strategic Health Solutions and secured a subcontractor position with a vendor working on a project funded by OEMS. He didn’t disclose that he owned the company, thus hiding his conflict of interest.
When the vendor became suspicious that there was no phone number or physical address, Harrell created a Google Voice number and emailed the vendor pretending to be a Strategic Tech employee named Robert Green, who corresponded with the vendor, according to court documents.
Harrell deposited his first $193,076 check into Strategic Tech’s business checking account on Nov. 23, 2020. Between Jan. 2021 and May 2023, Harrell sent 15 invoices to OEMS for services his company had supposedly provided. He submitted the invoices to the Western Virginia EMS Council (WVEMS), a regional emergency medical services council that handled OEMS’ vendor payments, according to the press release.
Through the WVEMS, Harrell could avoid having to register his company as a vendor with the OEMS Accounts Payable department and use his status as the Associate Director to approve his invoices. WVEMS paid all 15 invoices with funding from OEMS, which he approved himself, the press release revealed. Harrell provided WVEMS with prepaid shipping labels that sent the checks addressed to Strategic Tech to either his personal residence or a mailbox in a UPS Store that he rented out. WVEMS was unaware that they were mailing the checks to Harrell’s home and renting the mailbox, per the indictment.
Harrell submitted false information on his annual conflict of interest disclosure forms and admitted to depositing the checks from WVEMS into a bank account he opened for his fake tech company. He then used those funds to buy expensive cars, jewelry, real estate, and dozens of firearms, say prosecutors.
In addition to frauding OEMS, Harrell also evaded paying taxes on the money Strategic Tech made between 2021 and 2023. On his 2020 federal income tax return, he reported an income of $193,076 and a loss of $200,340, ending with a $934 refund from the IRS, according to the press release. Harrell reported no other income in the three years to follow and now owes the IRS approximately $1,880,287.34, per an IRS statement.
Harrell pled guilty to one count of mail fraud, one count of federal program theft, and one count of tax evasion, according to the indictment. His sentencing is scheduled for November 20th, and he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
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