Naomi Campbell Banned From Being Charity Trustee.

[nelson]

Naomi Campbell Banned From Being Charity Trustee.

Naomi Campbell has been banned from acting as a charity trustee after the inquiry into her charity organization named Fashion for Relief conducted by the Charity Commission found some serious mismanagement of money.

The inquiry also made out that the money of the charity was paid to account for personal stays at an expensive hotel amongst other uncharitable purposes. She, along with two other trustees, was subsequently disqualified on those premises. Campbell has since spoken out, however, saying she "had no control" over what the charity did and was looking into the matter.

According to an inquiry by the Charity Commission, Naomi Campbell's Fashion for Relief charity spent a mere 8.5% of its overall expenditure on charitable grants from 2016 through to last year. Tens of thousands of pounds were wrongly spent by the charity on luxury hotel rooms, flights, spa treatments, personal security, and cigarettes for Campbell, the commission said, while hundreds of thousands of pounds in unauthorized consultancy payments were also made to one of Campbell's fellow trustees.

It found that over a five-year period from 2016, Fashion for Relief raised just under £4.8m from a series of fashion shows but paid out only £389,000 in grants to partner charities once the cost of events and other expenses were accounted for. It later secured nearly £350,000 from the charity - which was paid to the charities Save the Children and the Mayor's Fund for London - which reported Fashion for Relief to the regulators four years ago after it had failed to receive promised payments from agreements raising cash.

Campbell's co-trustee Bianka Hellmich who the inquiry concluded had been paid £290,000 in unauthorized consultancy fees and £26,000 a year in travel expenses from the charity over two years - was disqualified from serving as a charity trustee for nine years. Hellmich contacted the commission in February 2022 with an offer to repay the fees and expenses. A repayment plan was agreed with the commission and the amount was paid in full in April 2023. Veronica Chou, was also banned for four years being third trustee.

 

Edited September 30 by nelson