Government didn't prove fraud

A commentary piece posted July 2 on WorldNetDaily referred to New Jersey–based health-care consultant Besler & Company in terms that suggested Besler had committed fraud on the U.S. government and that the government had been able to prove the fraud. That characterization was in error. Although Besler was alleged by a whistleblower to have been a consultant to hospitals who submitted false claims to the government, Besler settled with the government before any trial of the case, and therefore the government never actually proved any of the claims against Besler in court. WorldNetDaily can't confirm that the column's author possessed any factual information about the case that would indicate whether the government would have been able to prove fraud had the case gone to trial.

The column also contained several negative characterizations of unscrupulous health-care consultants in general. Although these characterizations express the author's personal opinion, WorldNetDaily can't confirm that the author had any factual information about Besler, beyond the government's press release announcing the out-of-court settlement, that would support the application of those negative descriptions to Besler specifically.