Next time you see Naomi Campbell swanning down the runway or all glammed up for a film premier you might reflect on the dark side of her life- the fact that her ‘’anti-poverty’’ charity raised £4.8 million but only £389K went to good causes as she and others lived the high life on the money.
At long, long last the Charity Commission has acted and banned her for five years from running a charity after finding widespread financial misconduct. Why there isn’t a police investigation is beyond me.
It emerged during the Commission’s investigation that the charity paid £9,400 for Campbell to stay three nights in a five-star hotel in Cannes. Further, she ran up a bill of £6,000, once again paid for by the charity, on spa treatments, room service and even buying cigarettes.
The trustees said the high-priced hotel was chosen for security reasons. Don’t laugh.
Surprise, surprise the charity had chosen Cannes for its fashion show fundraisers to coincide with the city’s film festival. The stars were aligned!
Campbell, 54, set up Fashion for Relief in 2005 and she claimed at the time, in a torrent of publicity, she had been inspired by her ‘’honourable mentor’’ Nelson Mandela. Throwing Mandela’s name in is always good for business.
She said at the time the charity would ‘’unite the fashion industry’’ as a force for good by providing relief during humanitarian disasters and giving health and education opportunities to the poor.
According to The Times, investigators found an organisation with little grip on its finances. A fellow trustee, a lawyer called Bianka Hellmich, was also banned by the Commission from running a charity for nine years.
Financial irregularities included unauthorised consultancy fees of £290,000 over two years to Hellmich. She was contracted to receive a 10 per cent commission on all sponsorships received and had expenses averaging £26,000 a year.
The whole thing stinks and it casts a huge shadow across all charities because many people don’t contribute as they fear their money is used in the way Campbell did. Some of the wages paid to the CEOs are eye-watering.
David Miliband, who runs a big charity in New York, is paid a million dollars a year. I doubt he goes economy. He may think its justified, others will not.
Campbell, in her defence, says she was not in control of her charity. ‘’I put the control in the hands of a legal employer,’’ she says.
That’s as maybe but it didn’t take a genius to see that the money was not being distributed and that costs and revenues were not in balance. I presume she’s a clever woman and she had called employees to account.
It is very unusual for such lengthy bans to be handed down. This is serious for Campbell. Out of her wealth, estimated at £60 million, why doesn’t she make a substantial donation to right the charity’s wrongs?
Don’t hold your breath.