A federal jury in the District of Maryland has found Patrick Britton-Harr, founder and chief executive of AeroVanti, a former Piaggio Aerospace P.180 membership programme operator, guilty on six counts of wire fraud in an aircraft ownership scheme involving around USD15 million.
According to a US Department of Justice statement, Britton-Harr was found guilty of falsely claiming he would use customers' funds to purchase aircraft in exchange for discounted flight time. Former members, referred to by AeroVanti as “Top Gun” members, were defrauded of approximately USD15 million through USD150,000 upfront payments intended to fund five aircraft.
Instead, Britton-Harr misappropriated members' funds for personal use, including the purchase of yachts and jewellery, payment of living expenses, and rental of a USD10,000-per-month home near Tampa, Florida, the statement said.
Britton-Harr further attempted to conceal the fraud using a USD1.5 million loan to acquire one of the aircraft he claimed to have purchased with members' funds. To obtain the loan, he withheld material information.
Sentencing has not yet been set. He faces up to 20 years in prison per count. The conviction comes weeks after AeroVanti's relaunch was announced through a partnership with Planesmart! Aviation.
According to Private Jet Card Comparisons, Britton-Harr emailed former members and prospects stating that PlaneSmart! had opened an office at Sarasota/Bradenton and provided AeroVanti with a PC-12, expected to launch operations on May 15, 2026.
In May 2025, Britton-Harr was separately indicted on multiple counts of health care fraud and one count of money laundering related to a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare for expensive respiratory tests. He is scheduled to stand trial on that indictment in October.
