Naomi’s fashion charity is shut down – midway through probe into its finances
NAOMI CAMPBELL’s high-profile Fashion For Relief charity has been shut down amid the charity watchdog’s probe into claims of financial mismanagement, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The Charity Commission last night confirmed that it had removed the supermodel’s charity from the UK charity register while it continued its investigation into allegations of misconduct.
It follows revelations by this newspaper that official accounts showed that during a 15-month period it spent more than £1.6million on a glittering gala in Cannes, but gave just £5,000 to good causes.
The watchdog said it was still conducting an inquiry into Fashion For Relief, which Ms Campbell founded in 2005, saying she had been inspired by her friend Nelson Mandela telling her to ‘use [her] voice’ for good.
The charity claimed to have raised more than £11 million, mostly through glitzy fundraising events held all over the world, including in New York, Mumbai and Moscow.
Ms Campbell, 53, would take centre stage at the galas, appearing in showstopping designer gowns, and was honoured by the
British Fashion Council for her philanthropic work in 2019.
But concerns were raised in 2021 about how much money was being passed on to people in need after the Mayor’s Fund for London lodged an official complaint, saying that it was owed £50,000 by the charity.
The Mayor’s Fund, which helps young Londoners from low-income backgrounds, filed a ‘serious incident’ report with the Charity Commission, which announced a statutory inquiry in November that year.
Last night, a commission spokesman said the charity had been removed from the charity register last month. It came after the watchdog appointed two managers to take over Fashion For Relief, which had consistently filed its accounts late.
A friend of Ms Campbell last night said Fashion For Relief was set up to raise ‘awareness’ and not just money. They insisted that the supermodel, worth a reported £63million, had decided to call time on Fashion For Relief before the watchdog inquiry was launched.
A Charity Commission spokesman said: ‘We can confirm that the commission-appointed interim managers of Fashion For Relief applied for its removal from the register of charities on the basis that it no longer operates.
‘The removal process is now complete and reflected on the public register. Our statutory inquiry into the charity is ongoing.’
As part of the investigation, Fashion For Relief trustees were restricted from making certain financial transactions in order to ‘protect the charity’s property’.
The trustees were Ms Campbell; her key aide, Veronica Chou, who is the heiress to a £2billion textile fortune; and socialite and lawyer Bianka Hellmich. Ms Chou quit the charity days after the commission launched its probe in 2021.
A spokesman for the charity said: ‘The winding up of Fashion For Relief was a decision made by the trustees three years ago. It was not forcibly closed.
‘Fashion For Relief operates in America and will continue to do fundraising initiatives worldwide.’