Naomi Campbell banned as charity trustee after probe finds misconduct

British supermodel Naomi Campbell has been disqualified from being a charity trustee for five years after the Charity Commission found serious mismanagement of funds at Fashion for Relief, which she founded.

This included using charity funds to pay for Campbell’s stay at a five-star hotel in Cannes, France, as well as spa treatments, room service and cigarettes.

The model is one of three of the charity’s trustees to be disqualified as a result of the probe.

After she was made a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters at the French Ministry for Culture on Thursday, Campbell told reporters: “I just found out today about the findings, and I’m extremely concerned, and we are investigating on our side as I was not in control of my charity, I put the control in the hands of a lawyer.

“And so we are investigating to find out what and how, as everything I do and every penny I ever raised goes towards charities.”

The Charity Commission, which registers and regulates charities in England and Wales, opened an inquiry into Fashion for Relief in 2021.

The charity, which it says was founded by Campbell in 2015, was dissolved and removed from the register of charities earlier this year.

It had been set up with the aim of uniting the fashion industry to relieve poverty and advance health and education, by making grants to other organisations and giving resources towards global disasters.

It hosted fundraising events to generate income, including in Cannes and London.

Some £344,000 has been recovered and a further £98,000 of charitable funds protected, the regulator said.

The Charity Commission’s inquiry found that between April 2016 and July 2022, 8.5% of the charity’s overall expenditure was on charitable grants.

The probe saw no evidence that trustees took action to ensure fundraising methods were in the charity’s best interests, or that the money it spent was reasonable relative to the income it generated.

It also said it found some fundraising expenditure to be misconduct or mismanagement by the charity’s trustees.

This included a 14,800 euro (£12,300) flight from London to Nice for transferring art and jewellery to a fundraising event in Cannes in 2018.

It also looked into the decision to spend 9,400 euros (£7,800) of charity funds on a three-night stay at a five-star hotel for Campbell.

In these cases, the trustees “failed to show how these were cost-effective and an appropriate use of the charity’s resources”, the Charity Commission said.

Furthermore, it examined expenses incurred by Campbell totalling nearly 7,940 euros (£6,600), alongside the hotel stay, paid for by the charity.

These costs included spa treatments, room service, and the purchase of cigarettes and hotel products.

The regulator said trustees explained that hotel costs were typically covered by a donor to the charity, therefore not costing the charity, but failed to provide any evidence to support this.

Bianka Hellmich has been disqualified as a trustee for nine years, and Veronica Chou for four years, as well as Campbell’s five-year ban.

It means they are prevented from being a trustee or holding a senior management role in any charity in England and Wales during the length of the disqualification.