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, which the regulator deemed to be unreasonable.

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

Fashion for Relief was founded by Campbell in 2005 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.

The charity was dissolved and removed from the register of charities earlier this year.

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.

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 in 2018 for transferring art and jewellery.

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 in Cannes, France, 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.

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.