International supermodel Naomi Campbell has been banned from acting as a charity trustee after a UK Charity Commission inquiry uncovered misuse of funds within her charity, Fashion for Relief.

The investigation found that money meant for charitable causes was instead spent on luxury hotels, spa treatments, cigarettes, and unauthorized security expenses for Campbell and her fellow trustees.

The watchdog found that Fashion for Relief was not donating as much of the money raised to charitable causes as it had pledged.

Campbell, 54, expressed her concern in a statement to the AP news agency, stating: “I’ve just found out today about the findings, and I am extremely concerned.” She added that she was not the individual in control of the charity.

As a result of the findings, Campbell has been disqualified from charity involvement for five years. Additionally, two other trustees, Bianka Hellmich and Veronica Chou, have been banned for nine and four years, respectively.

The inquiry also revealed that unauthorized payments totalling Ksh 41 Million were made to Ms Hellmich for consultancy services, which breached the charity’s constitution. Investigators managed to recover nearly Ksh 50 Million from the charity, with further protections established for Ksh 17 Million of its remaining funds.

These recovered funds were redirected to two other charities, Save the Children Fund and The Mayor’s Fund for London, as well as to settle Fashion for Relief’s outstanding liabilities.

The inquiry, covering the charity’s finances from April 2016 to July 2022, showed that only 8.5% of the money raised was spent on actual charitable grants.

Following the inquiry’s launch, both Save the Children Fund and the Mayor’s Fund for London lodged complaints about Fashion for Relief’s management of funds raised on their behalf. The commission found that Fashion for Relief failed to adequately manage its partnership arrangements with these charities.

Tim Hopkins, a member of the investigation team, said: “Trustees are legally required to make decisions in their charity’s best interests and to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities.” He added, “Our inquiry has found that the trustees of this charity failed to do so, which has resulted in our action to disqualify them.”

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