Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) said it will take legal action against her company Inkerman Road Nominees Pty Ltd, now in liquidation, and Annabelle Gibson, for a range of false claims, following detailed investigation into alleged breaches of Australian Consumer Law.
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The regulator said it had conducted an in-depth investigation of Ms Gibson’s activities and had applied to Australia’s Federal Court for leave to pursue legal action.
The legal action relates to Ms Gibson and her company’s false claims about her terminal brain cancer, her rejection of conventional cancer treatments and the donation of proceeds to charities.
Gibson maintained she would provide details of her illness right up until an interview in April past year with Australian Women’s Weekly in which she finally confessed to her deception.
A year ago she was allegedly paid approximately $45,000 by Channel Nine to tell her side of the story despite claims she failed to donate $300,000 from the sales of her wellness app, The Whole Pantry, to charity (as she had promised).
In March, Ms Gibson told the Herald Sun she didn’t expect to face any charges: “No, I don’t think I will”, she said.
Belle Gibson launched a cookbook and smartphone app in 2013 following claims she overcame the disease through alternative therapies such as Ayurvedic medicine and with a diet free of gluten and refined sugar. “I have lived it and I’m not really there yet”, she said.
Gibson’s publisher, Penguin Australia, has already agreed to pay $22,200 to the Victorian Consumer Law Fund as a penalty for releasing The Whole Pantry, which was not fact checked.
“This is an important step in ensuring that consumers receive only verified information and are not deceived, particularly where serious matters of health and medical treatment are concerned, ” the director said. Elle Australia declared her 2014’s “most inspiring person”. Penguin had planned to publish her book in the U.S. and UK.
It’s also committed to beefing up its compliance, education and training program to make sure all claims about medical conditions by prospective Penguin authors are substantiated, and that sweeping statements about natural remedies of any kind come with a written warning.
Concerns were expressed that Gibson had led a profligate lifestyle, renting an upmarket town house, leasing a luxury auto and office space, undergoing cosmetic dental procedures, purchasing designer clothes and holidaying internationally, on money claimed to have been raised or destined for charity. She had a heart problem growing up, but that was it.
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Belle Gibson has been contacted for comment.
