British supermodel Naomi Campbell has been barred from being a charity trustee in England and Wales for five years.
The Charity Commission unveiled the news on Thursday as Campbell was in Paris.
The regulator found that only 8.5% of the charity’s overall expenditure went on charitable grants in a six-year period from 2016.
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.
The decision follows a three-year investigation into the financial activities of “Fashion for Relief”.
“I was not in control of my charity, I put the control in the hands of a legal lawyer,” she said right after receiving the prestigious Ordre des Arts et des Lettres award at the French Culture Ministry in Paris. “We are investigating to find out what and how, and everything I do and every penny I ever raised goes to charity.”
The ceremony took place on the sidelines of the Paris Fashion Week.
The Charity commission said that around 344,000 pounds ($460,000) has been recovered and that a further 98,000 pounds of charitable funds have been protected. These funds were used to make donations to two other charities and settle outstanding liabilities.
The regulator 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. She has been disqualified as a trustee for nine years. The other trustee, Veronica Chou, was barred for four years.
Fashion For Relief which was founded in 2005 was dissolved and removed from the register of charities earlier this year.
The charity said on its webstite that it presented fashion initiatives and projects in New York, London, Cannes, Moscow, Mumbai and Dar es Salaam and raised over 15 million dollars around the world.
Source: Africanews
