Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Naomi Campbell has launched legal action in an attempt to overturn an order banning her from running a charity, claiming she was the victim of a “systematic fraud” perpetrated by a fellow trustee who set up a fake email account to impersonate her.
The supermodel was disqualified from being a charity trustee for five years in May 2024 after a Charity Commission inquiry found widespread evidence of financial misconduct at Fashion for Relief, the poverty charity she created.
The charity passed on only a small fraction of the millions of pounds it raised from star-studded celebrity fashion events to good causes, the watchdog revealed in a report published in September.
The report found that the charity spent tens of thousands of pounds on luxury hotel rooms, flights, spa treatments, personal security and cigarettes for Campbell, and made £290,000 of unauthorised payments to a fellow trustee, Bianka Hellmich.
ADVERTISEMENT
It has now emerged that a tribunal judge gave Campbell permission last month to take forward an appeal against the commission’s decision to disqualify her from being a trustee.
Campbell, 54, claims that since September’s inquiry report her lawyers have uncovered evidence that documents submitted to the commission during its two-and-a-half year investigation gave a “false impression” of her role in running the charity.
These included evidence of a fake email account used by Hellmich to “impersonate” her in communications to and from Fashion for Relief’s lawyers – in effect, Campbell alleges, acting without her authority and keeping her in the dark about the inquiry and the allegations of mismanagement and misconduct.
Summing up the allegations, the court papers claim Hellmich – also known as Bianka Tobinska – misled Campbell and while purporting to assist her “perpetrated a systematic fraud against her by various means including the use of a fake email address”.
“There’s absolutely no truth to the allegations,” Hellmich told the Guardian.
Campbell, who has previously admitted that she failed in her duties as a trustee at the charity, said in a statement: “Ever since the commission’s report, I have fought to uncover the facts. What has been unearthed so far is shocking. I want to shine a light on how easy it is to fake identities online and prevent anybody else going through what I have been through. I want to ensure that those responsible are held accountable and justice is done.”
She added: “Having begun legal action, I will have more to say in due course. This is just the beginning. As I have said before, I have never undertaken philanthropic work for personal gain, nor will I ever do so.”
The inquiry report said written representations to the commission contesting the disqualification decision were made on behalf of Campbell and Hellmich via their solicitors in August 2023, more than a year before the inquiry was published.
ADVERTISEMENT
A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “The commission notes the tribunal’s initial ruling and the judge’s comment that the case will require Ms Campbell to prove very serious allegations of wrongdoing against a fellow trustee. These are significant allegations for the courts to consider, and we will continue to cooperate fully with the tribunal as it does so.”
By Patrick Butler
Learn more:
Naomi Campbell Banned From Being Charity Trustee
The model has been banned from serving as a charity trustee for five years following a Charity Commission investigation that revealed severe financial misconduct at Fashion For Relief, the poverty relief charity she led.
