LONDON (AP) 鈥� Supermodel Naomi Campbell told a tribunal she was 鈥欌�檇eceived鈥� as she gave evidence on Tuesday in a bid to overturn a in England and Wales.
The U.K.’s charity regulator in 2024 disqualified Campbell, 56, as a charity trustee for five years after finding serious financial mismanagement at the Fashion for Relief charity she founded.
The Charity Commission said at the time that thousands of pounds worth of the charity’s funds were used to pay for a luxury hotel stay in Cannes, France, for Campbell as well as spa treatments, room service and even cigarettes.
Only 8.5% of the charity鈥檚 overall expenditure went to charitable grants in a six-year period from 2016, the regulator said.
Campbell launched an appeal against her ban last year, claiming she was a 鈥渧ictim of fraud and forgery.鈥�
On Tuesday, she told a tribunal that she was deceived by her fellow trustee Bianka Hellmich, who she alleged forged her signature and lied about her credentials as a charity lawyer.
Campbell said she 鈥渄id not do a check on Bianka,鈥� adding that she had assumed Hellmich was 鈥渁cting within the law.鈥�
The Charity Commission had also disqualified Hellmich as a charity trustee for nine years after its investigation found she received around 290,000 pounds ($385,000) of unauthorized funds for consultancy services.
Campbell’s lawyer, Andrew Westwood, said Hellmich advised her that she could effectively act as a 鈥渇igurehead鈥� for the charity, while Hellmich 鈥渃arried out a long-term and consistent scheme of mismanagement and deception in relation to the running of the charity.鈥�
In a written statement ahead of the hearing, the model said she has 鈥渘ever undertaken philanthropic work for personal gain, nor will I ever do so.鈥�
Fashion for Relief was set up in 2005 in the U.S. and registered in the U.K. in 2015, with the aim of uniting the fashion industry to relieve poverty and help those affected by natural or other disasters around the world. The organization was dissolved and removed from the register of charities in 2024.
A third trustee of the charity, Veronica Chou, was barred for four years after the charity watchdog’s investigation.
Other witnesses were expected to give evidence on Wednesday.
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