Belle Gibson is commonly referred to as a blogger, but in her native Australia, she's more like a multi-media mogul.
The 26-year-old single mom from Melbourne runs popular website, published a bestselling cookbook and even served as a consultant for designers of the Apple Watch, as her Whole Pantry app was to be offered as a key feature on the hot new wearable device.
Now it looks as though that deal may have unraveled along with the rest of Gibson's empire, as there is reason to believe that she lied about both her near-fatal health problems and her charitable contributions.
Gibson first came to national prominence six years ago when she shared with her Instagram followers the the crushing news that she had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Believing that traditional medical treatments were taking too much of a toll on her body, Gibson announced that she intended to take a more holistic approach to fighting her disease.
Gibson profited by sharing her thoughts about non-traditional and healing foods with her fans, but she also assured them that she donates 25% of her revenue to medical charities.
Now, it several news outlets and at least one former friend of Gibson's are reporting that she never had cancer, and never gave a dime to charity.
Gibson has already admitted to lying about donating $227,000 to charity last year, but she insists the problem was that the sales from her app weren't as high as expected.
In addition to allegedly misleading her customers, Gibson is accused of spearheading fundraising campaigns and pocketing the donations herself.
"Ms.Gibson has run two campaigns purporting to raise money for five charities," reports the Sydney Morning Herald. "Fairfax Media confirms that none has a record of receiving a donation."
Shocking as that allegation is, the most bizarre part of this story may be that Gibson not only lied about her terminal diagnosis six years ago but also claimed to have cancer in her "blood, spleen, brain, uterus, and and liver" just last year, in an Instagram post that has since been deleted.
Doctors interviewed by the Morning Herald claim that the symptoms described by Gibson do not align with her diagnoses.
Gibson has yet to respond to the allegations against her, but has made her popular Instagram page private and has reportedly fled from police investigators.