Model Naomi Campbell disqualified as charity trustee
Naomi Campbell has insisted she was “not in control” after being disqualified from being a charity trustee for five years.
The 54-year-old supermodel founded Fashion For Relief in 2005.
An investigation by the Charity Commission found just a small proportion of money raised by the foundation – which was dissolved and removed from the register of charities earlier in 2024 – had benefited the causes it was set up to help.
The investigation, which opened in 2021, found charity funds had been used to pay for cigarettes, spa treatments, room service, and Campbell’s stay at a five-star hotel in Cannes, and just 8.5 per cent of Fashion For Relief’s overall expenditure between April 2016 and July 2022 had gone on charitable grants.
Campbell – who is one of three trustees to have been disqualified as a result of the probe – said she was “extremely concerned” by the findings and an investigation was underway on her part.
She is quoted by Sky News as saying: “I was not in control of my charity, I put the control in the hands of a legal employer.
“We are investigating to find out what and how, and everything I do and every penny I ever raised goes to charity.”
The Charity Commission has recovered £344,000 ($A666,000), and secured protection for a further £98,000 ($A190,000) of charitable funds.
The body found no evidence that trustees acted to ensure fundraising methods were in the charity’s best interests or that expenditure was reasonable when compared to the income it generated.
It also branded some spending misconduct or mismanagement, including a £12,300 ($A24,000) flight from London to Nice for transferring art and jewellery to a fundraiser in Cannes, and Naomi’s £7800 ($A15,000) three-night stay at a five-star hotel, during which she also clocked up almost £6600 ($A12,800) in expenses.
It said trustees had “failed to show how these were cost-effective and an appropriate use of the charity’s resources.”
Tim Hopkins, who was part of the investigations team, said in a statement: “Trustees are legally required to make decisions that are in their charity’s best interests and to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities.
“Our inquiry has found that the trustees of this charity failed to do so, which has resulted in our action to disqualify them”.
As well as Campbell’s five-year ban, Bianka Hellmich received a nine-year disqualification and Veronica Chou can’t serve as a trustee for four years.
The trio will be unable to be a trustee or hold a senior management position with any charity in England and Wales during the period of their bans.
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