Belle Gibson: Victorian authorities ‘will not give up’ about the persecution of cancer con artist’s unpaid $ 410,000 fine | Victoria

The Victorian Prime Minister says the state’s consumer watchdog “constantly” pursues Cancer Conwoman Belle Gibson and “will not give up” until she pays the fine she was ordered to pay more than seven years ago.

Gibson, now the subject of a new Netflix series, Apple Cider Vinegar, was ordered in 2017 by the federal court to pay a fine of $ 410,000 plus $ 30,000 in legal costs of misleading and misleading behavior after she mistakenly claimed to have been diagnosed with brain cancer and cured through alternative therapies and nutrition.

Jacinta Allan on Thursday said she was “disappointed” that the case had still not been resolved.

“Behind the TV stories, behind the dramatization, are real people who have had their lives ruined by this individual acts,” she said.

“Consumer affairs Victoria continue to pursue this, especially in connection with the orders made by the court.

“There are unique fines, and consumer affairs Victoria is pursuing this constantly and consistently and will not give up.”

In a statement, a government spokesman said Gibson had left a “very real and long trace of businesses and individuals who have been injured and scammed.”

The confirmed consumer affairs Victoria still worked to restore the fine, which will not lapse and can attract interest. However, they did not reveal the current outstanding balance.

In his judgment in 2017, federal court judge Debra Mortimer found conventional cancer treatments in favor of embarking on a quest to heal himself naturally ”.

She also found that Gibson broke the Consumer Act, claiming she would donate revenue from the entire Pantry book and the app sales, including for the family of a Melbourne boy with brain cancer.

Gibson got two weeks to pay the fines, but didn’t.

Two years later, the case returned to court where Gibson claimed she was not in a financial position to pay the fine.

In January 2020, her home was attacked in a “search and sale” quanti, during which the Victorian sheriff’s office is able to seize assets to repay debt. It is not known if this raid resulted in any actual debt recovery.

Gibson’s home was attacked again in May 2021, with the fine, sanctions and interest rates estimated at that time to amount to more than $ 500,000.

Dr. Natalie Cujes, a legal academic at UNSW Canberra and a former federal court registrar, said mechanisms were in place to give the court or a party to a matter of pursuing contempt of litigation when someone “obviously” fails to comply with court decisions. But she noted that pursuing this route in Gibson’s case may not be clear.

“The Court’s file has been closed for several years and there have been at least two attempts to enforce the court’s orders, with an attempt to conduct an investigation for a court registrar to get information and documents,” Cujes said.

Sondra Davoren, a lawyer at the McCabe Center for Law and Cancer, said that the Victorian government introduced “strong powers” in 2016 to intervene against people who make false cancer hard requirements.

She said since then that several prohibition orders have been issued by the Health Complaints Commissioner.

“People who make allegations of curing cancer for fame and financial gain, like Belle Gibson, are unknowingly acting and swapping people’s hope for a cure,” said Davoren.

“The case – and the Netflix show – remind us of the very real injury that may be caused by health -wrong information.”

She urged people with cancer and their families to report any false price requirements or unethical practice to the Commissioner of Health Complaints or the Cancer Council.