Cancer conwoman Belle Gibson is living “like a fugitive”, locking herself away inside her suburban home as she fails to pay a cent of her $410,000 fine for fraud.
The former wellness blogger who faked brain cancer and pretended to heal herself with natural remedies and healthy eating in order to make money is like a prisoner in her own home, and has hardly been sighted since a Federal Court case in June, neighbours say.
A Consumer Affairs Victoria spokesperson told the Sunday Herald Sun it was considering “all available options to enforce the financial penalties against Ms Gibson ordered by the Federal Court”.
However, Gibson is still refusing to answer questions about why she has not paid any of her fine, issued in 2017 for five breaches of consumer law over her misleading and deceptive conduct as founder of The Whole Pantry.
Belle Gibson at home in Northcote last week. Picture: Ian Currie
Instead, she angrily told the Sunday Herald Sun she had been approached by several media outlets wanting to speak with her and would make a decision on which to “go with” based on the respect she believed they showed to her.
Some neighbours speculated Gibson may have moved from the Northcote address she shared with mystery man Clive Rothwell and her eight year-old son, as she had been sighted so rarely.
Others told the Sunday Herald Sun they believed she was still living in the house, but “hiding out”.
Even before the court case – where Gibson argued she was too broke to pay the $410,000 fine she owes for her fraud – she often covered her face with her hand as she walked quickly to her car and kept her head down, one neighbour said.
Gibson outside court in May, after failing to pay a $410,000 penalty. Picture: AAP Image/David Crosling
Bikes, a ball and a car baby seat sit on the front veranda of the stylish, white weatherboard home.
In the course of the June Federal Court hearing, Gibson described herself as “empathetic” but the court heard she had holidayed in Bali, the Gold Coast and Africa and spent thousands on clothes, accessories and cosmetics.
Neighbours said Gibson was “hiding out” at the home. Picture: Ian Currie
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The Africa trip was as “a gift” from her housemate, Mr Rothwell, it was told.
Mr Rothwell has previously been known as Gibson’s partner, but she has recently said he is just “a friend”.
Donning dark glasses and a trench coat at her recent court appearance, Gibson appears to have adopted a very different look to the wholesome one she embodied while promoting herself as a wellness warrior.
