After Lying About Cancer and Fleecing Folks for Money, Did Belle Gibson Ever Go to Jail?

If you're looking to get a straight answer from Belle Gibson, don't hold your breath. The Australian wellness influencer first gained notoriety after sharing with the world that she had incurable brain cancer and was given a handful of months to live. According to her, it later spread to other parts of her body. She then chose to buck traditional treatments in favor of cleaner living, which Gibson said effectively managed her diagnoses.

Gibson built a wellness empire that included an app and cookbook called The Whole Pantry, but things crumbled when it was discovered that she never had cancer at all. To add insult to injury, Gibson also claimed she was raising money for charity organizations that never saw a dime. The law eventually caught up with her. Did she ever go to jail? Here's what we know.

Not only has Gibson seen zero jail time, but she has yet to pay the fines imposed upon her. In March 2017, Australia's Federal Court found that she had "made deceptive and misleading representations surrounding donations to charities, including One Girl and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre," per the Herald Sun.

Justice Debbie Mortimer said Gibson had "no rational or reasonable basis" to believe she ever had cancer and as such, she "deliberately played on the genuine desire of members of the Australian community to help those less fortunate." Judge Mortimer went on say, "Her ‘pitch’ overwhelmingly used groups likely to evoke sympathy because of their vulnerabilities — young girls, asylum seekers, sick children."

Gibson was ordered to pay $410,000, but in a letter to the court obtained by the Daily Mail, the wellness influencer said she was in dire financial straits. "I advise that I only have minor property assets to the value of $5,000," she wrote. "I receive a Parenting Allowance that I am fully reliant on to raise my son. At present, I am not working." She also listed her debt, which included a "fully drawn credit card with ANZ owing $30,000 and another personal debt exceeding $90,000, all of which I cannot pay."

In May 2021, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Gibson's Northcote home in Melbourne was raided by the Victorian Sheriff's officers. Due to penalties and fees, the original fine had ballooned up to $500,000, and authorities were looking to recoup that. "Ms. Gibson owes the Victorian public a substantial debt and Consumer Affairs Victoria will continue to pursue repayment," said a spokesperson for the sheriff's office.

Despite claiming that she was broke, authorities found that in 2019 she spent more than $90,000 in two years, including on trips to Bali and Africa. She was last spotted in January 2020, wearing a headscarf and going by the name Sabontu. Gibson infiltrated the Oromo community of Melbourne and claimed to have been "adopted" by the Ethiopian group.