CANCER CURE LIAR COPS $ 410K FINE

HEALTH blogging con artist Belle Gibson must cough up $ 410,000 in fines for profiting from false claims she had cancer, but she will not have to make a public apology.

More than two years after she was first exposed as a fake, the founder of The Whole Pantry health and wellness empire has finally been penalised in the Federal Court.

But the fine is nowhere near the maximum $ 1.1 million penalty the disgraced blogger could have faced.

Justice Debbie Mortimer also chose not to order Gibson place an apology in the form of an ad in newspapers – a move sought by Consumer Affairs Victoria.

Gibson, formerly of Brisbane, has snubbed the civil proceedings in Melbourne – never once showing her face in court. She has not even been represented by a lawyer.

Gibson claimed she had brain cancer, healed herself with natural remedies and lied to consumers about donating to charities from sales of her app and book.

Justice Mortimer ordered her to pay a total of $ 410,000 for five contraventions of Australian consumer law relating to false claims she made that money from sales would go to various charities. Justice Mortimer said the money should be donated to “some or all” of the organisations and people to whom Gibson had promised donations.

“In that way, some good might come … ( of) this unconscionable sequence of events,” she said.

Gibson once again failed to show at court yesterday, but Justice Mortimer said the court received an email from her at 10.54pm on September 25, after it had notified her of yesterday’s hearing. The email from Gibson read: “Thank you for the update. Confirming receipt of your email. Much appreciated. Belle.”