Naomi Campbell banned from being charity trustee

Campbell is ineligible to serve as a trustee for a charitable organization for a period of five years.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been prohibited from serving as a trustee for a charity after regulators discovered that funds intended for the charity were used for lavish hotels and spa experiences.

An investigation by the Charity Commission revealed that Fashion for Relief was not distributing as much of the funds it collected as it should have.

Instead, the funds were being used for cigarettes and security for Campbell, along with unauthorized payments to one of her fellow charity board members.

"I only learned about the results today, and I'm very worried," Campbell, 54, shared with the AP news agency.

She mentioned that she was not the one "in charge" of the charity.

Unkept Promises In Fundraising Efforts

She has been prohibited from participating in charitable activities for five years. Two other trustees, Bianka Hellmich and Veronica Chou, received bans of nine years and four years, respectively.

The BBC has reached out to the representatives of the British model.

The investigation revealed that a total of £290,000 in unauthorized payments for consulting services had been issued to Ms. Hellmich, violating the charity's governing rules.

Although Ms. Hellmich took the initiative to suggest returning the funds, the interim managers assigned by the Commission were able to recover the money for the charity.

Naomi Campbell is very worried about the investigation into the charity.

Investigators successfully recovered almost £345,000 from the charity, and measures have been put in place to safeguard an additional £98,000 of its funds.

The money has been allocated to settle payments for two additional charities—Save the Children Fund and the Mayor’s Fund for London—as well as to address the expenses associated with Fashion for Relief's obligations.

An investigation into Fashion for Relief's spending from April 2016 to July 2022 revealed that only 8.5% of the money raised went towards charitable grants.

After the inquiry was launched, both the Save the Children Fund and the Mayor’s Fund for London submitted complaints to the commission concerning Fashion for Relief.

Fashion for Relief organized fundraising events for the two charities, but the investigation revealed that it did not effectively oversee its partnership agreements.

Tim Hopkins, a member of the investigations team, remarked: “Trustees have a legal obligation to act in the best interest of their charity and to fulfill their duties and responsibilities according to the law.”

He stated, "Our investigation revealed that the charity's trustees did not fulfill their responsibilities, leading us to take steps to disqualify them."

Fashion for Relief was delisted from the charity register on March 15, 2024.