Cancer fraudster Belle Gibson escapes $500,000 fine, gets ‘Netflix treatment’

Fake cancer fraudster Belle Gibson has escaped paying a ballooning $500,000 fine because of a botched legal claim against the influencer whose scam is now being retold in a Netflix series.

Fake cancer fraudster Belle Gibson has escaped paying a ballooning $500,000 fine because of a botched legal claim against the influencer whose scam is now being retold in a Netflix series.

It can be revealed that Gibson may never have to pay a cent, with one potential reason for this because government lawyers did not put a freezing order on her assets.

Gibson had been ordered by the Federal Court in 2017 to pay $420,000, plus court costs and interest that has pushed the total bill out to more than $500,000 and counting.

But lawyers for Consumer Affairs Victoria, which launched the court action, did not put a freezing order on her assets which has impacted its ability to enforce the fine.

14/05/2019 Fraudster Belle Gibson leaves Federal Court in Melbourne after appearing for not paying a fine for claiming she cured herself of cancer and was giving app and book profits to sick people. Picture: David Geraghty / The Australian.

A whistleblower who exposed how the glamorous Gibson was lying when she claimed to have cured brain cancer with a healthy diet says her former friend will never pay up.

“Belle was flying first class, she rented a multimillion-dollar house in Elwood and a BMW four wheel drive and her teeth fixed, the money’s gone,” Chanelle McAuliffe, who lifted the lid on Gibson’s scam, said this week.

“This just shows how little action has been taken and that Belle is unwilling to take any responsibility.”

TOUGH TALK FALLS FLAT

Consumer Affairs Victoria talked tough when taking action to claw back the money Ms Gibson fundraised, even threatening her with jail in 2020 for contempt of court but nothing has happened.

Legal sources have questioned why government lawyers did not put a freezing order on her assets, which is standard practice in fraud cases.

A Consumer Affairs Victoria spokesman said it was continuing to pursue Annabelle Natalie Gibson (also known as Belle Gibson), in order to recover her outstanding debt.

Gibson has been keeping a low profile and has moved out of a terrace house in Northcote, in Melbourne’s upmarket inner north, at least a year ago.

Kaitlyn Dever, who plays Belle Gibson in the new Netflix series, Apple Cider Vinegar. Picture: Netflix/ Supplied

The mother of one made $420,000 by orchestrating a story about her cancer fight which she pushed to her social media followers on Instagram. She parlayed that following into a cookbook, The Whole Pantry, and app based on her claim, with executives from Apple and Penguin Books gullibly swallowing her claims.

Gibson, 33, has not spoken publicly about the six-part Netflix series based on her exploits, Apple, Cider, Vinegar, which will debut on February 6, starring American actress Kaitlyn Dever stars as the influencer.

Gibson first faced the Federal Court to pay the fine in 2017 after being found guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct for falsely claiming she had terminal cancer that was cured by alternative therapies and nutrition.

Gibson only turned up to court in 2019 under threat of being jailed, arriving in a designer black coat, sunglasses and movie-star makeup.

She told the court she did not have the capacity to pay and has since dodged the fine.

Gibson had faced off with 60 Minutes star Tara Brown in 2016, where she denied she was lying about her cancer diagnosis.

Gibson before she was exposed as a fraud.

The Netflix series follows on from Inventing Anna, about New York con artist Anna “Delvey” Sorokin, who was jailed for fraud after duping the high society into believing that she was a German heiress.

NETFLIX IS ‘GLORIFYYING CRIMINALS’

Ms McAuliffe, who spent months gathering evidence about Gibson’s lies before she was unmasked, said she was worried the Netflix show would simply enhance her reputation.

“These Netflix shows have a history of glorifying and sensationalising criminals. Anna Delvey was on Dancing with the Stars in the United States this year,” she said.

“Belle was always driven by greed and fame and money.”

Gibson did turn up in a bizarre video with a Melbourne-based Ethiopian group in 2018. Speaking at some points in Oromo, Gibson aligned herself with the group’s cause, wearing a brass coloured headscarf in the 11-minute video.

Ms McAuliffe said Gibson would align herself with “any vulnerable group” who she could exploit.

Chanelle McAuliffe, a whistleblower who unmasked fake cancer con Belle Gibson, says her former friend will never take "any responsibility". Picture: Supplied

“I saw Belle fake a seizure at her son’s third birthday party, she was on the ground convulsing and had saliva coming from her mouth,” she said.

“I said ‘I’m going to call an ambulance’ but Belle said no because she didn’t believe in western medicine.

“The kids at the party had to be ushered out of the room past her, they saw that. She told her son she had cancer. To me, that’s worse than ripping people off.”

Gibson’s son would now be a teenager.

Gibson was unable to be contacted for this story, with phone calls and emails not returned.

Originally published as Cancer fraudster Belle Gibson escapes $500,000 fine, gets ‘Netflix treatment’