Case record · Fresno practice · 2024 settlement
Mukker and Advanced Foot Care
A Fresno settlement that accepts specified facts while disclaiming liability
A Fresno podiatrist and his corporation resolved allegations about investments in Peters-controlled MSOs and about billing peripheral venous studies as office visits. DOJ announced $1,598,891; the agreement itself specifies $1,150,000 plus suspended Medicare payments the government retains, and records facts the parties accept.
The distinction that matters
This agreement disclaims any admission of liability — and, separately, records facts that Dr. Mukker and his corporation "acknowledge and accept" and agree not to publicly deny or contest. That combination is different from the Goswami agreement, which denies the government's contentions outright. A combined headline loses the difference; the case page keeps it.P10P11
Stated by the operative instrument itself: a signed order, an executed agreement, a statute, an official opinion.
An identifiable public source that is not the operative instrument: a DOJ announcement, a docket summary, a reproduced text.
Reported by a party or index and confined to what the reporter says; the underlying document was not obtained.
KPSGILL analysis from timing, structure or omission — labeled, never promoted to fact.
A question the retrieved record does not answer; the document that would answer it is named.
| Parties | United States (DOJ, HHS-OIG and the Defense Health Agency for TRICARE) · Jagpreet Mukker, D.P.M., and Jay Mukker, DPM Inc. (d/b/a Advanced Foot Care and Clinical Research Center), a Fresno podiatry corporation |
|---|---|
| Announced | November 21, 2024, with the Goswami settlement, and tied by DOJ to United States v. Peters |
| Amount | DOJ: $1,598,891. Agreement: $1,150,000 plus interest on a payment schedule, and the United States retains Medicare payments CMS had suspended |
| Liability | Not an admission of liability; specified facts acknowledged and accepted, with an agreement not to deny or contest them publicly |
| Status label | SETTLED WITH SPECIFIED FACTS ACCEPTED |
The two categories of covered conduct
Proved (as the agreement defines them). The United States contended (1) that Dr. Mukker and his corporation solicited and received kickbacks designed to induce and reward prescriptions to mail-order pharmacies owned or controlled by Matthew Peters, including for federal program beneficiaries, between March 2016 and October 2020; and (2) that the corporation submitted Medicare claims for peripheral venous studies falsely identified as physician evaluation-and-management services between January 1, 2017 and November 22, 2023.P10
What the accepted facts say
The accepted-facts paragraphs describe an investment path through three Peters vehicles: a 2016–2017 "PPM" investment of $4,000; about $10,000 for 20 shares of the Coastline MSO in July 2017 and 20 more shares in October 2017; and $20,000 for 40 shares of the Bayview MSO in about September 2018. They record statements by a sales representative and by Peters tying the opportunity to buy shares, and the size of payouts, to prescribing "performance"; Forms K-1 showing distributions and withdrawals of $43,655 (Coastline, 2017), $74,860 (Coastline, 2018), $40,000 (Bayview, 2018) and $117,400 (Bayview, 2019); and the acceptance that "the investment returns from the Coastline and Bayview MSOs caused Dr. Mukker to send prescriptions to the Pharmacies rather than send them to other pharmacies." They also record that he prescribed to the pharmacies collectively through a shared fax number or portal on a prescription pad supplied for that purpose.P10
These are facts accepted by the settling parties in their own agreement. Peters and the other Peters defendants were not parties to it; the paragraphs describing their statements are not findings against them, and the government must prove its case against them in the litigation.
| Vehicle | Capital in | Distributions / withdrawals |
|---|---|---|
| "PPM" (2016–2017) | $4,000 | Not itemized in the paragraphs read |
| Coastline MSO (2017–2018) | $10,000 + additional shares + $5,000 (2018) | $43,655 (2017) · $74,860 (2018) |
| Bayview MSO (2018–2019) | $20,000 | $40,000 (2018) · $117,400 (2019) |
On the billing count, the accepted facts state that from 2017 CMS policy did not allow reimbursement for the noninvasive peripheral venous studies associated with CPT 93965, that the services continued, and that they were billed using CPT 99214, which identifies a physician evaluation-and-management service. On November 22, 2023 CMS suspended payments to the corporation under 42 C.F.R. § 405.371(a)(2) on a determination of credible allegations of fraud.P10
The accepted facts also describe a sales representative's contacts with other Fresno physicians, identified in the agreement only as Dr. A through Dr. D. This page does not attempt to identify them.
How $1,150,000 becomes $1,598,891
Proved Paragraph 1 requires payment of $1,150,000 plus interest on a schedule (the first installment, $35,000, within sixty days of the effective date), and provides that "in addition to the Settlement Amount, the United States shall retain the Suspended Amount" — the approved, paid claims CMS had held in suspense, which were $330,460.79 as of October 2, 2024, with the amount at the effective date defined as the Suspended Amount.P10
Inference DOJ's $1,598,891 is consistent with $1,150,000 plus a suspended amount of about $448,891 at the effective date; the agreement does not state that figure, and the press release does not break the total down. Reporting "$1.6 million paid" without that split would overstate the cash and understate the role of the payment suspension.P01P10
Sources
Official issuers and original instruments are preferred; reproductions of primary legal text are identified. A source that opens is not proof of every neighbouring claim. Checked 1 November 2026 unless stated.
- P01U.S. Attorney's Office, E.D. Cal. — Fresno doctors agree to pay $2.4 million to resolve kickback allegations (Nov. 21, 2024)
- P10Settlement Agreement, United States and Jagpreet Mukker, D.P.M. and Jay Mukker, DPM Inc. (2024)
- P11Settlement Agreement, United States and California Pain Consultants and Amitabh Goswami, D.O. (2024)
Fresno and Eastern District False Claims Act library
- Fresno division · 1:19-cv-01699TerpeningDiscovery · sanctions undecided
- Sacramento division · 2:24-cv-00287PetersDiscovery · Rule 37(b) preclusion adopted
- Fresno practice · 2024 agreementMukkerSettled with specified facts accepted
- Fresno practice · 2024 agreementGoswami / California Pain ConsultantsSettled; contentions denied
- Eastern District of CaliforniaRegional and criminal comparatorsDated historical records
- Governing lawThe False Claims Act in healthcareStatute, pleading, materiality, scienter, Stark, AKS
Case library index · The Fresno Files · Healthcare enforcement investigation · Source ledger