Naomi Campbell has been barred from being charity trustee in England and Wales, after an investigation found out that the money raised was used to pay for the supermodel´s hotel accommodation, cigarettes, and spa service.
Barred from charities; Poor fashion
Campbell´s ambition charity Fashion for Relief was founded in 2005 to help end poverty by advancing health services and education worldwide and granting help to global disasters and other NGOs. The fans of the 54-year-old diva were hit by a wave of disbelief and disappointment when the UK´s Charity Commission reported that only a small proportion of Fashion for Relief´s funds were used for good causes.
After three years of intricate investigations, the Charity Commission found “multiple instances of misconduct and/or mismanagement,” disclosing that only 8,5 per cent of the charity´s overall expenditure was spent on actual charity work since 2016. A luxury hotel stay in Cannes, spa treatments, room service, and cigarettes for Campbell were among the things covered by the charity.
The model has now been barred from being a charity trustee in England and Wales for five years. She reported feeling “extremely concerned” about the claims, arguing; “I was not in control of my charity, I put the control in the hands of a legal employer. We are investigating to find out what and how, and everything I do and every penny I ever raised goes to charity.”
The Commission also reported that fellow trustee Bianka Hellmich received at least €347,600 for “consultancy services,” leading to her disqualification from charity work for nine years, and the other trustee, Veronica Chou, being barred for four years.
“Trustees are legally required to make decisions that are in their charity´s best interest 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 the charity failed to do so, which has resulted in our action to disqualify them.”
Approximately €412,300 euros has been recovered and €117,000 protected; being used for donations to two other charities and to settle the NGOs faulty expenditures.
Barred from charities; Do we place too much trust in celebrities?
Only 19 years after its founding, could the Commission report the dishonestly of Campbell´s charity. Could the case have been resolved sooner had the charity not been run by a global fashion icon whose face is familiar to millions?
There have been many instances in which celebrity giving had gone wrong; consider the American author of Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson, who in 2012, was ordered to repay €895 thousand (1 million) in donations to his various charities, after investigators found that he had been “mismanaging and personally benefitting from the funds of his charity.”
His Central Asia Institute, which aimed to build schools in disadvantaged parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, raised more than 1 million, which was nevertheless spent not on the children’s needs but on travel and book expenses of Mortenson.
“Legitimacy is a big issue today, particularly in times of crises,” said Bob Ottenhoff, president and CEO of GuideStar researchers on US NGOs. “Sometimes celebrities connect with charities and the link hasn´t been defined. They often start a charity not for charitable purposes, but for ways to avoid taxes or to employ friends and family. The whole Greg Mortensen thing. You had a guy who became a celebrity and he didn´t have a governance structure.”
Read more celebrity stories covered by the Euro Weekly News.
