‘Still pursued’: The latest on elusive Melbourne fraudster Belle Gibson

Melbourne fraudster Belle Gibson, who faked brain cancer to sell a nutrition book and app, appears to be in hiding as she is chased by authorities for money she has owed for years.

Belle Gibson at her home in Northcote, where neighbours say she has not been seen for some weeks now. Picture: Ian Currie

Melbourne cancer conwoman Belle Gibson has still not coughed up money she owes, five years after being fined for her awful lies and may soon be fined even more.

The glamorous fraudster also appears to be in hiding, with attempts by the Herald Sun to contact Gibson this week at her Northcote home unsuccessful.

Neighbours revealed she had not been sighted for several weeks, but what is understood to be her car remained parked in the street in front of her house.

Gibson famously duped the world into thinking she had cured herself of brain cancer by healthy eating and alternative therapies, and used the lie to leverage sales of her The Whole Pantry cookbook and app.

A spokesperson from Consumer Affairs Victoria said this month it was “continuing to pursue Ms Gibson in order to recover her outstanding debt”.

Belle Gibson arriving at Melbourne's Federal Court in June 2019. Picture: David Crosling

Gibson was fined $410,000 in September 2017, an amount which is understood to have since blown out to more than $500,000 with interest and penalties and is expected to further increase when inflation over the period she has owed the money is factored in.

After failing to pay a cent of the money she owed, Gibson was hauled before the Federal Court in 2019, where she pleaded poverty.

The court heard Gibson was a struggling single mother, living off government benefits, and could not afford to pay her fines.

But her lavish expenditure was laid bare in the course of court proceedings, including holidays to Bali, Adelaide, the Gold Coast and Africa, as she was grilled by the consumer watchdog for two-and-a-half hours.

And Gibson could not explain mystery cash deposits into her account.

Gibson’s bank statements in the two years to April 2019 also revealed $13,000 in transactions for clothes, accessories and cosmetics.

The pretty Northcote home of conwoman Belle Gibson. Picture: News Corp

A Northcote resident told the Herald Sun this week that until recently, Gibson was regularly spotted shopping at high end organic grocery, Terra Madre, suggesting she had not curtailed her spending.

Gibson’s Northcote home has been raided twice by sheriffs, as authorities tried to recoup the money she owes.

It was first raided in January 2020 and again in May last year, with authorities declining to say what, if any, items of value were seized.

Gibson’s wellness business earned more than $578,000 from more than 300,000 purchases before cracks in her cancer story started to appear, and she was exposed as a fraud.