Belle Gibson FUGITIVE FROM TRUTH

Six years after she was caught lying to the world, Belle Gibson continues to make headlines and exploit the vulnerable. But will she also now elude justice?

- GENEVIEVE GANNON

When she first broke onto the scene in 2014 with her bouncy ponytail and bright-eyed claims that she had conquered her terminal brain cancer with “nutrition-based therapy”, Belle Gibson was difficult to ignore. The inspirational story she had written for herself, of the single mother beating the odds and becoming an entrepreneurial success and philanthropic darling in the process, drew awards, magazine profiles, and adulation. But when journalists revealed that her whole persona was a tangle of elaborate lies, the world turned on her fast. The self-anointed wholefood healer received death threats, while the authorities pursued her for her deceptive and unconscionable conduct. Photographers papped her coming and going from her house, and global headlines, podcasts, and books fuelled her infamy. She was prosecuted and fined, but refused to pay.

As tales of her manipulating a new audience continue to circulate, The Weekly has learnt that in February this year a Federal Court registrar marked the Belle Gibson file as “abandoned”. Does this mean that the notorious fraudster will never see a public reckoning? We follow Belle’s trail to find out whether she has mended her ways or even shown remorse, and if she will ever face true justice.

Victoria’s Director of Consumer Affairs has been pursuing Belle for profiting from her lies since 2015 when the news broke that the inspiring young survivor in the hot pink lipstick was a fraud. Months earlier, she had been flying high. Her book The Whole Pantry and app of the same name had grossed $440,500, and she was enjoying the fame and wealth that comes with creating an empire with global reach. Her ascension was rapid. In just 18 months she had gone from obscurity to superstar.