After a string of non-appearances, cancer conwoman Belle Gibson has shown up at court to explain her failure to pay a $410,000 fine for duping Australians.
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The fake wellness guru was summoned to appear in the Federal Court on Tuesday for examination on her financial affairs, and arrived with only minutes to spare, having skipped a series of previous hearings.
She has already been warned she faces jail for failing to pay the penalty, imposed on her in 2017 by Federal Court Justice Debra Mortimer for five breaches of consumer laws.
Gibson accumulated wealth of $420,000 through her cookbook The Whole Pantry and an app, in which she falsely claimed her brain cancer was cured through alternative therapies and nutrition.
It was later revealed she never had cancer.
Justice Mortimer found Gibson misled and deceived her readers after Consumer Affairs Victoria launched an investigation and brought a civil case against her.
The court heard Gibson also lied about donating a large portion of her profits to charity.
Gibson has repeatedly refused to attend court hearings, and Justice Mortimer last year warned she faced jail and further penalties, such as property seizures, unless she paid the fine.
On Tuesday, Gibson's lawyer, Andrew Tragardh, presented his client's financial records for inspection by Consumer Affairs Victoria.
When Elle Nikou Madalin, for Consumer Affairs Victoria, said the records would take time to examine, Mr Tragardh said Gibson wanted to finalise the matter.
He said Gibson "doesn't have unlimited resources" for legal costs, and another return to court would incur additional legal costs, which she couldn't afford.
Gibson lied to well-meaning consumers that she would donate money from the Whole Pantry app and book sales to various charities, including a boy with inoperable brain cancer.
She only donated about $10,000 to charity.
She and her company Inkerman Road Nominees - which was placed in liquidation - only began making the small donations after the media began questioning her claims.
When she handed down her penalty in September, 2017 Justice Mortimer said Gibson had a "relentless obsession with herself".
She said Gibson not only tried to garner sympathy for her own claimed cancer, but promoted herself as generous and selfless so people would buy her products.
Consumer Affairs Victoria brought the action against Gibson and Inkerman Road Nominees.
She could have faced a maximum penalty of $1.1 million.
AAP
