Controversial former British supermodel Naomi Campbell is now barred from being a charity trustee in England and Wales for five years after a three-year investigation by the UK’s Charity Commission.
This comes after the two decades-old poverty charity was deemed yesterday (26) to have been ‘poorly governed’ with ‘inadequate financial management’.
The Charity Commission investigation into the financial activities of ‘Fashion for Relief’ found ‘multiple instances of misconduct and/or mismanagement’, and discovered that that only 8.5% of the charity’s overall expenditure went on charitable grants in a six-year period from 2016.
Associated Press reported:
“For example, it said that thousands of pounds worth of charity funds were used to pay for a luxury hotel stay in Cannes, France, for Campbell as well as spa treatments, room service and even cigarettes. The regulator sought explanations from the trustees but said no evidence was provided to back up their explanation that hotel costs were typically covered by a donor to the charity, therefore not costing the charity.”
Campbell has stated she is ‘extremely concerned’ by the findings of the regulator, and that an internal investigation was underway.
“’I was not in control of my charity, I put the control in the hands of a legal employer’, she said in response to a question from the AP after being named a knight in France’s Order of Arts and Letters at the country’s culture ministry for her contribution to French culture. ‘We are investigating to find out what and how, and everything I do and every penny I ever raised goes to charity’.”
The UK’s Charity Commission registers and regulates charitable entities in England and Wales.
It also found that fellow trustee Bianka Hellmich received around 290,000 pounds ($385,000) of unauthorized funds for consultancy services which was in breach of the charity’s constitution.
Hellmich has been disqualified as a trustee for nine years, while the other trustee, Veronica Chou, was barred for four years.
“’Trustees are legally required to make decisions that are in their charity’s best interests and to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities’, said Tim Hopkins, deputy director for specialist investigations and standards. ‘Our inquiry has found that the trustees of this charity failed to do so, which has resulted in our action to disqualify them’.
The charity, which was founded in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, was dissolved and removed from the register of charities earlier this year. On its website, which is still active, the charity said that it presented fashion initiatives and projects in New York, London, Cannes, Moscow, Mumbai and Dar es Salaam, raising more than $15 million for good causes around the world.”
Campbell’s charity was set up with the aim of uniting the fashion industry to relieve poverty and advance health and education.
The UK’s Charity commission said that around $460,000 has been recovered and that a further 98,000 pounds of charitable funds have been protected.
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