Disgraced ‘wellness’ blogger and convicted cancer fraud Belle Gibson has been hit with a $410,000 fine after being found guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct.
The 25-year-old created a lucrative social media business based on claims she beat brain cancer with her own mix of natural remedies, claims later revealed to be fake.
Found guilty earlier this year of misleading readers with her fake claims, Gibson did not appear in the Federal Court in Melbourne on Thursday where she was whacked with the mega fine.
Disgraced ‘wellness’ blogger and convicted cancer fraud Belle Gibson (pictured) has been hit with a $410,000 fine after being found guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct
Gibson rose to prominence on the back of systematic lies she had beaten terminal cancer by using homemade remedies.
The Melbourne-based blogger created her ‘Whole Pantry’ app and book claiming to be a guide to overcoming cancer without the need for traditional medical treatment.
But despite her having received an estimated $420,000 from sales of her book and app, in early 2015 her story was outed as fraudulent.
Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) then launched an investigation and took civil action against Gibson and her company Inkerman Road Nominees in 2016.
The court heard Ms Gibson made false claims about donating profits to charity.
Earlier this year Federal Court Judge Debbie Mortimer said Gibson may have actually been under a ‘delusion’ that she did have cancer.
It comes after it was revealed last year that Penguin, the publisher of her book, may have suspected her of faking her story.
Penguin, the publisher of Gibson’s Whole Pantry book, allegedly prepared the cancer faker for tough questions about her diagnosis before her lies were revealed.
The 25-year-old (pictured) created a lucrative social media business based on claims she beat brain cancer with her own mix of natural remedies, claims later revealed to be fake
The Melbourne-based blogger created her ‘Whole Pantry’ app (pictured) and book claiming to be a guide to overcoming cancer without the need for traditional medical treatment
Footage revealed in court showed the disgraced health personality being prepared by Penguin publicists with a 90-minute session on how to answer tough questions.
‘This is just for us, so that if you are sitting opposite a Good Weekend journalist who’s asking you quite investigative questions, we want to rehearse some questions with you,’ the Penguin representative said.
‘What we suspect might happen now is that because you are the success story of the moment – you know what journalists do, they want to start scratch, scratch… away.’
‘They already are,’ Gibson responded.
‘And we’re concerned about that,’ the Penguin representative said.
Penguin released Gibson’s book in October 2014 but it was withdrawn from sale five months later.