UK tribunal overturns Naomi Campbell's five-year charity trustee ban after finding deception

Tribunal ruling and overturned ban

London's First-Tier Tribunal has overturned a five-year ban preventing supermodel Naomi Campbell from serving as a charity trustee. The three-member panel concluded on Thursday that financial irregularities and the misuse of funds at her charity, Fashion for Relief, had been deliberately concealed from her. Campbell had faced disqualification following a 2024 inquiry by the Charity Commission, the regulator for England and Wales. The tribunal determined that Campbell was not responsible for unjustified expenditures, including unauthorized luxury spending billed during an international fundraising trip.

Investigation and charity dissolution

Campbell established Fashion for Relief in 2005 to raise humanitarian aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina, later expanding operations to fund global disaster relief, healthcare, and anti-poverty initiatives. The organisation gathered donations through runway shows in London, New York, and Cannes, featuring models such as Kate Moss, Gigi Hadid, and Kendall Jenner. The charity ceased operations in 2023 and was formally dissolved and removed from the register of charities in 2024.

The Charity Commission opened an inquiry that identified multiple instances of financial mismanagement at the organisation. The regulator cited expenditures from a May 2018 stay at a five-star hotel near Cannes, where charity funds paid for room service, spa treatments, and cigarettes. The investigation also discovered between £290,000 and £316,000 in unauthorized consultancy fees and travel expenses paid to fellow trustee Bianka Hellmich. In 2024, the regulator disqualified Campbell, Hellmich, and a third trustee, Veronica Chou.

Deception by fellow trustee

Campbell appealed the sanction to the First-Tier Tribunal, stating that she had been deceived by Hellmich and had no knowledge of charity funds covering her personal expenses. Evidence presented to the tribunal revealed that Hellmich forged legal documents, lied about her professional credentials as a charity lawyer, and operated a fake email account to impersonate Campbell. Campbell maintained throughout the proceedings that she was unaware of the financial wrongdoing and had trusted Hellmich to handle the legal and administrative duties. In their written judgment, tribunal judges Joe Neville and James Armstrong-Holmes confirmed that the most severe breaches were committed without Campbell's knowledge.

There was serious misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the charity she founded, Fashion for Relief. The tribunal has found, however, that its most serious features, including unauthorised payments to Ms Campbell's co-trustee, Bianka Hellmich, failures in the management of the charity's finances and the misuse of its funds, resulted from Ms Hellmich's conduct and were concealed from Ms Campbell.

Governance findings and regulator response

The tribunal recognized that Campbell shared ultimate governance responsibility for administrative failures, such as late account filings and deficient meeting minutes. However, the judges determined that these procedural shortcomings did not render her unfit to act as a trustee, given the sustained deception to which she had been subjected.

Under the original 2024 regulatory action, Hellmich received a nine-year disqualification, while Chou was barred for four years. Following Thursday's ruling, the Charity Commission stated that its initial decision was reached on the evidence available at the time, noting that the tribunal confirmed that the regulator, Campbell, and external advisers had all faced sophisticated deception. The ruling clears Campbell to hold trustee positions across registered charities in England and Wales.