LONDON, Sept 27 — British supermodel Naomi Campbell has been disqualified from being a charity trustee for five years after the Charity Commission found serious mismanagement of funds at Fashion for Relief, which she founded, the German news agency (dpa) reported. This included using charity funds to pay for Campbell’s stay at a five-star hotel in Cannes, France, as well as spa treatments, room service, and cigarettes. The model is one of three of the charity’s trustees to be disqualified as a result of the probe.
The Charity Commission, which registers and regulates charities in England and Wales, opened an inquiry into Fashion for Relief in 2021. The charity, which it says was founded by Campbell in 2015, was dissolved and removed from the register of charities earlier this year. It was set up with the aim of uniting the fashion industry to relieve poverty and advance health and education, by making grants to other organisations and giving resources towards global disasters.
It hosted fundraising events to generate income, including in Cannes and London. Some £344,000 (US$461,464) has been recovered and a further £98,000 of charitable funds protected, the regulator said. The Charity Commission’s inquiry found that between April 2016 and July 2022, 8.
5 per cent of the charity’s overall expenditure was on charitable grants. The probe found no evidence that trustees took action to ensure fundraising methods were in the charity’s best interests, or that the money .
