The model Naomi Campbell has been banned from being a charity trustee after a watchdog investigation uncovered widespread evidence of financial misconduct at the poverty relief charity she fronted for more than a decade.
Campbell was disqualified for five years after a Charity Commission inquiry found Fashion For Relief passed on only a tiny fraction of the millions it raised from star-studded celebrity fashion events to good causes.
The charity spent tens of thousands of pounds on luxury hotel rooms, spa treatments, cigarettes and personal security for Campbell, while unauthorised payments running into hundreds of thousands were made to one of Campbell’s fellow trustees, the commission said.
Nearly £350,000 ($467,000) was recovered by investigators from the charity and paid to Save the Children and the Mayor’s Fund for London, which reported Fashion For Relief to the regulators four years ago after fundraising partnerships went sour.
Campbell’s fellow trustee Bianka Hellmich, who the inquiry found received £290,000 ($387,000) in unauthorised consultancy and expenses payments from the charity over a two-year period was disqualified from being a charity trustee for nine years. A third trustee, Veronica Chou, was banned for four years.
The inquiry report uncovered a history of shambolic financial management and chaotic record-keeping at the charity, which was finally wound up in March.
“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,” Tim Hopkins, Charity Commission’s assistant director for specialist investigations and standards, said.
“This inquiry, and the work of the interim managers we appointed to run the charity in place of the trustees, has resulted in the recovery of £344,000 and protection of a further £98,000 charitable funds,” he added. “I am pleased that the inquiry has seen donations made to other charities which this charity has previously supported.”
By Patrick Butler
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