Belle Gibson tears up in court over exposed new cash deposits despite failure to pay fine for breach of consumer law
An emotional Belle Gibson has claimed she is too broke to pay a $410,000 fine, revealing she was considering declaring bankruptcy. But the cancer con’s mystery bank deposits, lavish expenditure and declared income are not quite adding up.
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Conwoman Belle Gibson has revealed she is considering declaring bankruptcy as she continues to claim she is too broke to pay a $410,000 fine for her cancer fraud.
But the Whole Pantry founder’s spending was laid bare as she was grilled by the consumer watchdog for 2½ hours in the Federal Court today.
Gibson, 27, needed a short break to compose herself as barrister Carl Moller, for Consumer Affairs Victoria, probed her about mystery deposits into her bank accounts.
The bogus blogger — who duped consumers into buying her wellness app and cookbook on the basis of false claims she cured her brain cancer with natural remedies and healthy eating — has portrayed herself as a struggling single mother living off government benefits.
Belle Gibson has arrived at the Federal Court for a second day of grilling by Consumer Affairs over her expenditure and why she is yet to pay a cent of a $410K fine for her cancer fraud @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/o3v8Xx4V11
— Rebekah Cavanagh (@rebekahcavanagh) June 19, 2019
But an expenditure analysis of Gibson’s bank statements in the two years to April 2019 found $13,000 in transactions for clothes, accessories and cosmetics.
Mr Muller said Gibson spent $91,000 in that period, when her tax returns for 2016 and 2017 declared incomes of only $15,000 and $20,000.
Asked if it was possible, looking at these figures, she could pay “some of the fine”, she said, “no”.
But Gibson, dressed in a black coat and stilettos with her hair slicked back in a wavy ponytail, said she would consider a payment plan and revealed she was considering bankruptcy.
Gibson appeared frustrated with the questioning, sighing, throwing her head back and often answering: “I don’t recall.”
That was her response when asked how long her relationship lasted with her son’s father, who paid her $183 a week in child support, and again when pressed on the nature of a $3500 cash withdrawal she made in October last year.
She wiped away tears when detailing how she received money from the family of an elderly woman she helped care for.
Explaining why she was crying, she said: “You can see what I mean about my empathetic nature. I care about these people.”
She denied it was employment, instead describing the duties as “personal” in nature.
Explanations for other unknown cash deposits to her account included “a gift from a family member”, payment for errands she ran for friends, selling items of her son’s he no longer needed or emptying a coin piggy bank.
But she couldn’t recall who deposited $1600 into her account in three payments over a week so she could extend her holiday in Bali in May 2017.
That year, she also holidayed in Adelaide and went to the Gold Coast twice just two months apart.
Earlier this year, she went to Africa as “a gift” from her housemate, Clive Rothwell.
Gibson said she made up to $40 an hour doing odd jobs on Airtasker, but was booted off the app after negative publicity about her court appearances.
Since January last year, she had spent $2050 on cryptocurrency, saying she was trying to make money to pay for her legal fees.
Judicial Registrar Claire Gitsham adjourned the hearing, giving Consumer Affairs six months to determine if they want to recall Gibson for further examination.