Rye Ophthalmologist Gets 8 Years For COVID-19 Loan Fraud

RYE, NY — A disgraced Westchester County ophthalmologist will spend the next eight years behind bars over a seven-year-long healthcare fraud scheme and blatantly defrauding a Small Business Administration program intended to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rye resident Ameet Goyal was sentenced Thursday to 96 months in prison for the healthcare fraud scheme by falsely billing for millions of dollars of upcoded procedures. He also fraudulently obtained two government-guaranteed loans intended to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic while he was facing charges on pretrial release for the healthcare fraud scheme.

"Fraud doesn’t fully capture how blatant this was and how unjustified this was," U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel said, sentencing Goyal. "This was not about need, it was about greed."

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After he is released from prison, Goyal will serve five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay forfeiture of $3.6 million and restitution of $3.6 million. He has already paid approximately $1.79 million toward these obligations, according to prosecutors.

“A prominent ophthalmologist and oculoplastic surgeon who has now surrendered his medical license, Goyal was blinded by greed," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement announcing the stiff sentence. "Over a seven-year period, he preyed on the trust placed in him and cheated patients and insurance companies of $3.6 million in false charges. To cover his tracks, he created fictitious operative reports, seeded across hundreds of patient files, violating the integrity of patients’ medical records and making it more difficult for subsequent doctors to evaluate their care. He sent patients who could not pay the upcoded bills to a collection agency, decimating their credit."

Goyal looted over $630,000 in federal funds earmarked for small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of his plea agreement, Goyal has admitted to both scams and agreed to forfeit $3.6 million.

The 58-year-old operated Rye Eye Associates, with offices in Rye, Mount Kisco, Wappingers Falls and Greenwich, Connecticut.

Goyal also admitted to defrauding the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program while awaiting trial on the healthcare fraud. He not only misstated the number of loans he had applied for, but also falsely answered that he was not facing any pending criminal charges on the forgivable loan applications.