Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been banned from being a trustee of a charity, after the Charity Commission found serious mismanagement of finances.
The 54-year-old, was one of three trustees of charity Fashion for Relief who have been disqualified following a regulator’s probe. The disqualification will be effective for five years.
The charity came under the microscope by the Charity Commission. A probe found that between April 2016 and July 2022, 8.5 per cent of the charity’s overall expenditure was on charitable grants.
There was also evidence unearthed that showed unreasonable fundraising expenditure. Among the findings showed tens of thousands of pounds spent on trip to France, The Mirror reports.
It found that 9,400 (£7,800) was spent on a three-night stay at a five-star hotel in Cannes, France, for Campbell. And 14,800 euro (£12,300) was splurged on a flight from London to Nice in 2018 for transferring art and jewellery.
The regulator also found that charity money had been held on its behalf by solicitors and accountants instead of being run through a dedicated bank account in the charity’s name. According to the regulator, it recovered over £344,000 and protected a further £98,000 of charitable funds.
Fashion for Relief was removed from the register of charities earlier this year after being dissolved. It was initially set up as a way to provide poverty relief and advance health and education. It was supposed to do so by making grants to charities or other organisations and by providing resources directly to those affected.
Lawyer Bianka Hellmich and businesswoman Veronica Chou were also disqualified from being trustee, for nine years and four years respectively.
After the findings were released, Charity Commission Deputy Director for Specialist Investigations and Standards, Tim Hopkins, said: “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.”
He continued: “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. I am pleased that the inquiry has seen donations made to other charities which this charity has previously supported.”
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