Consumer Affairs Victoria has confirmed it is continuing its investigation of controversial health blogger and cookbook author Belle Gibson, following reports that Victoria police are not pursuing the case.
Serious questions were raised last month about the legitimacy of Gibson’s story of having treated aggressive cancers through diet and lifestyle, claims which were used to market her health and wellbeing phone app and cookbook.
Gibson attracted a large following on social media, including from cancer sufferers inspired by her story of being able to treat her terminal brain cancer through shunning conventional medicine.
But after it was revealed hundreds of thousands of dollars in charity donations promised by Gibson off the back of book and app sales were never handed over, Gibson also said that she was “wrongly” diagnosed with cancers she claimed to have in her blood, spleen, uterus and liver.
The Australian also revealed Gibson, born in 1991, had lied about her age, saying she had first been diagnosed at the age of 20 in 2009.
The revelations prompted a large backlash on social media, with many people saying they felt betrayed, and that it was dangerous to lie to cancer sufferers by saying dietary approaches alone could successfully treat them.
On Thursday, Fairfax Media reported police had received correspondence about Gibson and her alleged charity fraud, but were not looking into it.
“This matter is being looked at by Consumer Affairs Victoria [CAV], not Victoria police,” a police media spokeswoman said.
A CAV spokesman confirmed it was still making inquiries with Gibson and her associated companies, including “the nature of any fundraising appeals that may have occurred, including details of beneficiaries and net proceeds given”.
“Once we ascertain the facts, CAV will be able to make an assessment of the situation and determine whether any further action is appropriate,” he said.
Greg Barnes, a barrister and director of the Australian Lawyers Alliance, said if the allegations against Gibson proved to be true, her case would likely end up in a civil court rather than a criminal one.
“It could be hard to prove criminal intent in cases like this. But there may be some civil liability depending on contractual arrangements she entered into in terms of distribution and promotion, there may be some redress for those for whom she contracted if the allegations are true,” he said.
“If other businesses have entered into an arrangement with her business based on a personal story, and it is found they would not have entered into that arrangement had it not been for that story, then you have a situation where civil law may get involved.
“Each jurisdiction also has consumer affairs legislation and businesses can face fines if it is breached.”
In the days following the allegations against her, Gibson posted on social media that she was being bullied and had changed “thousands of lives for the better” through her organisation, the Whole Pantry. She said she would publish an open letter to address the allegations against her “within days”.
But since then, she has deleted the majority of her social media accounts and hundreds of posts and photos, and an open letter has yet to be published.
Her cookbook publisher, Penguin, also admitted they had never fact-checked her story. The publisher ceased printing copies of her book, while Apple withdrew her app from their store.
The media have also been criticised for writing positive articles about Gibson and her products without also asking for evidence to back her claims.
Posts dating back to 2009 uncovered on internet forums show Gibson also claimed to have gone through multiple heart surgeries and to have died on the operating table.
“I had surgery about seven hours ago, in the midst of a black out, cyclone and storms in Perth,” she wrote on a skateboarding forum she was a member of.
“I just woke up out of a coma type thing, and had no idea what was going on. The nurse came in when the alarms went off to say I was no longer in code blue or something!? And they fussed around for a bit then asked for my next of kin details cause I didn’t put anyone down. The doctor comes in and tells me the draining failed and I went into cardiac arrest and died for just under three minutes.
“I have the most intense bruising from the paddles when they electrocuted? Me back to consciousness. They’re amazed I’m sitting up testing already and claim miracle.”
Gibson has been contacted for comment.
Meanwhile, Women’s Weekly reported on Thursday that restaurant chain Sumo Salad had dropped celebrity chef, Pete Evans, as ambassador.
Last month, Evans came under fire ahead of the launch of a cookbook for babies and toddlers based on the paleo diet and which he coauthored, because it contained a recipe for baby broth that health experts said was potentially deadly.
“We have decided not to renew his contract,” said Petra Orrenius, head of marketing at Sumo Salad, told Women’s Weekly.
“We have been very happy with the collaboration but we just decided to take our marketing in a new direction.”