Two Fresno doctors agree to repay $2.4M in false Medicare claims, prosecutors say
Federal prosecutors recently announced settlements in two cases involving Fresno doctors who made false claims for patients in order to make more than $2 million in payments stolen from the country’s health care systems.
Podiatrist Dr. Jagpreet Mukker and pain medicine specialist Dr. Amitabh Goswami both agreed to settlements in separate cases to repay $1.6 million and $835,000, respectively, related to kickback arrangements collecting money from Medicare and Medi-Cal, prosecutors said.
Mukker maintains he did not purposely commit any wrongdoing, according to his Sacramento-based attorney Malcolm Segal.
“We are pleased to end this civil dispute by a settlement under which Dr. Mukker has not admitted liability for a violation of any regulations or laws but permits him to return some of the payments he previously received from Medicare,” Segal said in an email.
As part of the settlement, neither doctor was allowed to dispute certain facts in the accusations, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The prescriptions in question were funneled through a mail-order scheme connected to Matthew H. Peters, a Southern California man who was convicted of tax evasion and connected to mail-order schemes in several parts of California and out of state.
Mukker, who has an office in north Fresno, took payouts when he sent prescriptions to pharmacies in the mail-order scheme, reaching more than $117,000 a year between 2016 and 2020. The payouts were described as “reward for scripts,” prosecutors said.
The number of payouts grew over time, leading Peters to offer more opportunities for increased “performance” in prescriptions, prosecutors said. When the payouts were less than he expected, Mukker asked to be “made whole,” saying and he and another investor “have held up our end of the bargain,” according to prosecutors.
Mukker also made claims to Medicare for vein treatments he knew were not covered, prosecutors said. Mukker’s facility used a different code to hide the treatment and receive Medicare dollars.
Goswami, who heads California Pain Consultants in north Fresno, was involved in the same kind of illegal kickback arrangement with Peters, prosecutors said.
He has completed the terms of the settlement, according to his attorney, William Hahesy. “The settlement makes it clear that it does not involve any admission of liability by Dr. Goswami or his professional corporation,” Hahesy said in an email.
U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert said kickback schemes enrich the participants off of the backs of taxpayers.
“The payment of kickbacks corrupts medical decision-making and increases the cost of health care,” he said in a written statement.
This story was originally published December 3, 2024 at 11:46 AM.
