Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been banned from serving as a charity trustee after a watchdog discovered that funds from her charity, Fashion for Relief, were misused.
An investigation by the Charity Commission found that money raised by the charity was spent on luxury hotels, spa treatments, cigarettes, and security for Campbell, rather than being passed on to the causes it was intended to support.
The inquiry revealed that Fashion for Relief did not deliver on its fundraising promises.
Instead, unauthorised payments, including £290,000 for consultancy services, were made to one of Campbell’s fellow trustees, Bianka Hellmich, which violated the charity’s rules.
As a result, Campbell, 54, has been banned from charity involvement for five years. Two other trustees, Hellmich and Veronica Chou, have been banned for nine years and four years, respectively.
The inquiry, which reviewed Fashion for Relief’s finances between April 2016 and July 2022, discovered that only 8.5% of the money raised was spent on grants to charity.
Investigators recovered nearly £345,000 and secured protection for an additional £98,000 in charity funds.
These recovered funds have been used to support Save the Children Fund and the Mayor’s Fund for London—two charities that had partnered with Fashion for Relief but filed complaints after fundraising events did not yield the expected contributions.
Tim Hopkins, a member of the investigation team, stated, “Trustees have a legal obligation to act in the best interests of their charity. Our inquiry found that the trustees of Fashion for Relief failed in this duty, which has led to their disqualification.”
Fashion for Relief was officially removed from the charity register on March 15, 2024.