Recent reports say that Belle Gibson, developer of The Whole Pantry recipe app and advocate of a nutritional healing lifestyle, will not face criminal charges at this time.
We previously reported on Gibson, who claimed that her healthy eating lifestyle was helping her to beat terminal brain cancer, and had previously helped her beat multiple other forms of cancer. After the news broke that Gibson’s diagnoses were false, she became very evasive on social media channels about whether she actually had been diagnosed with cancer of the brain, spleen, uterus, liver and blood.
She also claimed that she has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for at least five different charities via her app, but it soon surfaced via SMH that the charities had never received the promised money.
Gibson’s app was also lined up to be featured on the Apple Watch, but the deal was pulled soon after accusations regarding her diagnosis being fictional came to light. The Whole Pantry, once heavily promoted by Apple, is also no longer for sale via the app store. Gibson’s book deal with Penguin Books was also pulled.
Victorian Police have now dropped the investigation against Gibson’s company, The Whole Pantry, and her cookbook empire, which reportedly netted around AU $1 million.
The case is now in the hands of Consumer Affairs Victoria, who is allegedly investigating into whether any money at all was donated to charity. “Once we ascertain the facts, CAV will be able to make an assessment of the situation and determine whether any further action is appropriate,” the consumer advocate said.
