Naomi Campbell has been banned from serving as a charity director for five years after a British watchdog group found evidence of financial misconduct at the model’s charity, Fashion for Relief.
The UK Charity Commission released a report on Thursday, which found the charity had “poor governance” and “poor financial management”.
The investigation found that the charity spent less than 9% of its income on grants and activities, and that some of the charity’s expenses were “unreasonable”. This included accommodation at a five-star hotel and security for Campbell, 54, during the 2018 Cannes Film Festival event, as well as “spa treatments, room service and the purchase of cigarettes.”
USA TODAY has reached out to Campbell’s representatives for comment.
Two of Mr Campbell’s co-trustees, Bianca Helmich and Veronica Chow, were also barred from serving as trustees for nine years and four years, respectively. An investigation by the Charity Commission found that Mr Helmich had received more than £290,000, or $388,000, in consultancy fees without the commission’s permission.
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The commission said Fashion for Relief had “mismanaged” its partnerships with two charities, Save the Children Fund and the Mayor of London’s Fund. The committee brought in interim administrators to pay the charity a total of around £345,000, or more than $460,000, which it owed.
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“As a result of this investigation and the work of the interim administrators we appointed to run the charity on behalf of the trustees, £344,000 was recovered and a further £98,000 of charity funds were safeguarded.” said Tim Hopkins, vice president of the Charity Commission. said in a statement released. “We are pleased that this investigation has confirmed donations to other charities that this charity has previously supported.”
Fashion for Relief was officially registered in 2015, 10 years after it was founded, but was dissolved in March this year and removed from the country’s charity register.
The legendary British supermodel founded Fashion for Relief in 2005. Its website says it has “supported many important humanitarian efforts,” including the Ebola crisis, Hurricane Katrina, Time’s Up and other efforts.
Naomi Campbell ‘very concerned’ about Charity Commission findings
“We just learned of the findings today and we are very concerned. We are conducting an investigation on our part,” Campbell said in an interview with The Associated Press in Paris on Thursday.
She was made a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters at the French Ministry of Culture on Thursday night.
“I couldn’t control my charity work, so I put control in the hands of lawyers,” she continued. “So we’re investigating what and how to figure it out.”
“Everything I do and every penny I raise goes to charity.”