BOSTON, MA – A former New York operations manager will spend more than a year behind bars for orchestrating a massive kickback scheme that funneled tens of millions of taxpayer dollars through fraudulent brain scan referrals.
Timothy Doyle, 45, of Selden, New York, was sentenced in federal court to 14 months in prison followed by a year of supervised release. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton also ordered Doyle to pay more than $27.2 million in restitution and forfeit over $1.1 million in profits tied to the scam. Doyle had pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute.
From 2013 through 2020, Doyle conspired with managers of a mobile diagnostics firm that performed transcranial Doppler, or TCD scans, to bribe doctors into ordering medically unnecessary tests. The group paid kickbacks in cash and checks, with some physicians compensated for each scan they ordered.
Federal prosecutors said the conspirators disguised their payments through sham “rental” and “administrative” service agreements that made it appear doctors were being paid fairly for office space or clerical work. In reality, investigators found, the compensation directly correlated with the number of scans ordered—an arrangement that blatantly violated federal law.
Massive Medicare losses
The scam generated roughly $70.6 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare, of which about $27.2 million was paid out before authorities uncovered the scheme. Officials said the fraud not only wasted federal healthcare funds but also exposed patients to unnecessary medical procedures performed under false pretenses.
- Timothy Doyle sentenced to 14 months in federal prison
- Fraudulent billing totaled more than $70 million
- Over $27 million in Medicare funds paid to fake claims
The case is part of a broader federal crackdown on healthcare fraud targeting kickback schemes, overbilling, and unnecessary medical testing across the country.