Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been barred from serving as a trustee for a charity for a period of five years after the Charity Commission identified significant mismanagement of funds within the organization she led.
The 54-year-old supermodel established Fashion For Relief, a charity that blends fashion with philanthropic endeavors, in 2005. However, an inquiry revealed that only a minimal portion of the funds was allocated to genuine charitable causes.
Earlier this year, Fashion For Relief was dissolved and removed from the charity register.
Improper conduct included utilizing charity funds to cover Campbell’s accommodation at a luxurious five-star hotel in Cannes, France, along with spa treatments, room service, and cigarette purchases.
Campbell is among three trustees of the charity who have been disqualified as a result of the investigation.
The Charity Commission, responsible for registering and overseeing charities in England and Wales, initiated an investigation into Fashion For Relief in 2021.
The charity’s objective was to provide grants to other organizations and supply resources for global emergencies to alleviate poverty and enhance health and education.
It organized fundraising activities to generate funds in locations such as Cannes and London.
Nevertheless, the inquiry revealed that between April 2016 and July 2022, a mere 8.5% of the charity’s total expenditures were directed towards charitable grants.
The Charity Commission reported that it has recuperated £344,000, in addition to safeguarding another £98,000 of charity funds.
Three nights at a five-star hotel
The Commission asserted that they found no indications that the trustees acted to ensure that fundraising strategies were aligned with the charity’s best interests or that expenditures were justified relative to the income generated.
Moreover, it noted that some of the fundraising expenses constituted misconduct or mismanagement by the charity’s trustees.
This involved a €14,800 (£12,300) flight from London to Nice to transport art and jewelry for a fundraising event in Cannes back in 2018.
Additionally, it scrutinized the choice to spend €9,400 (£7,800) of charitable funds on a three-night stay at a luxurious hotel for Campbell.
In these instances, the trustees “failed to demonstrate how these expenditures were cost-effective and represented an appropriate use of the charity’s resources,” the Charity Commission stated.
Spa treatments, room service, and cigarette purchases
Furthermore, it investigated expenses incurred by Campbell amounting to nearly €7,940 (£6,600), alongside the hotel costs, paid for by the charity.
These expenses encompassed spa treatments, room service, and the acquisition of cigarettes and hotel products.
The regulator emphasized that the trustees claimed hotel expenses were often covered by a donor to the charity, hence not a cost to the organization, but did not provide evidence to support this assertion.
Bianka Hellmich has received a nine-year disqualification as a trustee, while Veronica Chou has been barred for four years, alongside Campbell’s five-year ban.
This prevents them from serving as trustees or holding senior management positions in any charity within England and Wales during the duration of their disqualification.
Campbell was discovered as a schoolgirl, subsequently becoming the first British black model to grace the cover of British Vogue.
The 54-year-old model welcomed her second child, a son, last year, adding to her daughter born in 2021, just before her 51st birthday.