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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline MARCH 11, 2022 | The Indian Eye 28

indian-american doctor gets 96 months jail

term for healthcare fraud in new york

OUR BUREAU all charges in a six-count superseding initiated debt collection proceedings
Indictment before Seibel on Sep 13, against patients who did not pay the
New York
2021, according to Damian Williams, full amounts of those false charges.
meet Goyal, an Indian Amer- the US attorney for the Southern Dis- As a result of his fraudulent bill-
ican ophthalmologist in Rye, trict of New York. In addition to the ings, Goyal was the highest-billing
aNew York, has been sentenced prison term, Goyal was sentenced to doctor in the tri-state area for several
to 96 months in prison for orchestrating five years of supervised release, and or- of his fraudulently billed codes, one of
a seven-year healthcare fraud scheme dered to pay forfeiture of $3.6 million which he billed seven times more fre-
and Covid-19 loan fraud. Goyal, 58, and restitution of $3.6 million, a press quently than all doctors in the tri-state
allegedly billed for millions of dollars release from Williams’ office said. area combined, the release said.
of upcoded procedures, and fraudu- Goyal has already paid approximately Goyal was indicted for the health-
lently obtained two government-guar- $1.79 million toward these obligations. care fraud charges in November 2019
anteed loans intended to help small “A prominent ophthalmologist Goyal allegedly sent patients who and was released on bail. In April 2020,
businesses during the Covid-19 pan- and oculoplastic surgeon cheated pa- could not pay the upcoded bills to a Goyal applied to the SBA and Bank-1,
demic while he was facing charges tients and insurance companies of $3.6 collection agency, decimating their a federally insured institution, for over
on pretrial release for the healthcare million in false charges.” credit. He pressured other doctors $630,000 in Government-guaranteed
fraud scheme. In imposing the sen- “To cover his tracks, he created to join the scheme and threatened to loans through the SBA’s Paycheck
tence March 3, US District Judge fictitious operative reports, seeded retaliate against their livelihood and Protection Program (“PPP”).
Cathy Seibel noted, “Fraud doesn’t across hundreds of patient files, vio- careers. “Even after being arrested Specifically, on April 21, 2020,
fully capture how blatant this was and lating the integrity of patients’ medical for this scheme, Goyal committed Goyal applied for a loan of $358,700
how unjustified this was… This was records and making it more difficult a breathtaking new fraud and stole for the business “Ameet Goyal,” with
not about need, it was about greed.” for subsequent doctors to evaluate $637,200 from the Paycheck Protec- his own social security number and
Goyal previously pled guilty to their care,” he said. tion Program in the early days of a e-mail address. On April 29, 2020,
devastating pandemic,” Williams said. Goyal applied for a second loan in the
“For his crimes, Goyal will serve a sub- amount of $278,500, with a business
YrF reveal release stantial sentence in prison.” name “Rye eye associates,” using the
Employer Identification Number for
Between 2010 and 2017, doing
date of ‘pathaan’ business as Rye Eye Associates, with Ameet Goyal and a different email
offices in Rye, Mt. Kisco, and Wap-
address controlled by Goyal. To sub-
pingers Falls, New York, and Green-
stantiate each loan, however, Goyal
wich, Connecticut, Goyal allegedly en- submitted the exact same underlying
gaged in widespread healthcare fraud, payroll expense report, showing the
according to court documents. same employees and payroll costs, ac-
He did so by consistently “upcod- cording to court documents.
ing” simpler, lower-paying surgical On both applications, Goyal false-
procedures and examinations as com- ly answered that he was not facing any
plex, higher-paying major operations pending criminal charges, and elec-
in fraudulent billings submitted to tronically placed his initials “AG” di-
Medicare, private insurance compa- rectly under his “No” response. Goy-
nies, and patients. As a result, Goyal al also falsely certified, among other
fraudulently obtained at least $3.6 things, that his business would not re-
million in payments for procedures he ceive another PPP loan until the end
did not perform. Goyal failed to ob- of the year.
tain proper and, at times, any consent After obtaining approval from
for the upcoded procedures he falsely Bank-1 and the SBA through his
claimed to have performed, the release fraudulent misrepresentations, Goy-
said. As part of the scheme, Goyal rou- al executed loan notes for two loans.
OUR BUREAU (Republic Day Week) through a spe- tinely falsified patient medical records, On May 4, 2020, Goyal received the
cially shot date announcement video authoring fictitious templated opera- first loan of $358,700, and on May 11,
New York
that has no film footage whatsoever! tive reports that matched the complex 2021, Goyal received the second loan
iven the decibel level that The video, which is breaking operation he billed rather than the of $278,500.
Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika the internet today, teases a glimpse different minor procedure he actually Goyal allegedly used the business
GPadukone and John Abraham of SRK’s much-discussed Pathaan performed, according to court filings. checking account into which these
starrer Pathaan has, it has definitely look, adding to the thirst of his fans Goyal also pressured other em- funds were deposited to pay business
become the most awaited film to hit wanting to see his new avatar. The ployees in his practice to engage in the and personal expenses, including by
the box office post pandemic! Yash announcement video has been di- scheme, and threatened the livelihood making a payment to a country club
Raj Films on Friday revealed the rected by Siddharth himself and it of employees who refused to comply. in Westchester, New York within days
release date of this high-octane spy also revealed that the action specta- Goyal allegedly caused patients to of receiving the first loan, as well as
thriller, directed by Siddharth Anand, cle will be released in Hindi, Tamil pay thousands of dollars out of pock- payments to a California vineyard and
to be Wednesday, January 25, 2023 and Telugu! et for fraudulently billed charges, and golf merchandise website.

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