Supermodel Naomi Campbell founded Fashion For Relief in 2005 to fight poverty. However, an investigation revealed that only a small portion of the charity’s total spending was on good causes.
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British model Naomi Campbell was seen disqualify you from administering a charity in England and Wales for five years.
Following a three-year investigation into the financial activities of Fashion for Relief – an anti-poverty charity founded by Naomi Campbell almost twenty years ago – the Charity Commission, which registers and regulates NGOs in England and Wales, said they had identified “several cases of misconduct and mismanagement” within the association.
Thousands of pounds used on luxury hotel stay
The Charity Commission says that only 8.5% of Fashion for Relief’s overall spending went to charitable activities from 2016 to 2022.
Thousands of pounds of charitable funds were, for example, used to pay for a luxury hotel stay in Cannes for Naomi Campbell, as well as spa treatments, room service and even cigarettes.
The Commission stated thatno evidence had been provided to support the association explanation according to which the hotel costs had been covered by a donor to the NGO, and therefore would not have cost the organization anything.
Naomi Campbell declared herself “extremely concerned” by the regulator’s findings and indicated that an investigation was underway.
“I did not have control of my charity, I gave it to a legal employer”she says. “We are investigating how this could have happened. Everything I do and every penny I raise goes to charity.”.
Two administrators of the association excluded
The Charity Commission, which registers and regulates charities in England and Wales, also found that Bianka Hellmich, a colleague of Naomi Campbell, had received around £290,000 (€347,600) in unauthorized funds for consultancy services.
Bianka Hellmich was banned as a director for nine years, while the other director, Veronica Chou, was banned for four years.
“Trustees are legally required to make decisions in the best interests of their charity and to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities”says Tim Hopkins, deputy director for specialist investigations and standards.
“Our investigation revealed that the administrators of this association did not respect these obligations, which led us to take measures to exclude them”.
Hundreds of thousands of books seized
The NGO, founded in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, was dissolved and struck off the charity register at the start of the year.
On its website, which is still active, the association states that it has presented fashion initiatives and projects in New York, London, Cannes, Moscow, Mumbai and Dar es Salaam that have brought in more than $15 million (approximately $13 .4 million euros) for charitable causes around the world.
The Commission states thatapproximately £344,000 (€412,300) was seized and £98,000 (€117,000) of charitable funds were protected. This sum was paid to two other charities and used to settle outstanding debts.
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