UK watchdog bans Naomi Campbell from running charity over 'misconduct'

Former supermodel Naomi Campbell has been barred from running a charity after an inquiry found funds raised by an organisation she founded had been spent on spa treatment and room service charges.

The inquiry into Fashion for Relief, released on Thursday, identified "multiple instances of misconduct", including use of charity money to pay for a five-star hotel stay for Campbell, 54, in the south of France.

The finding means Campbell and two other trustees have now been disqualified from running a charity for five years.

Speaking in Paris on Thursday after receiving an honour from the French government, the British celebrity denied any responsibility for the mishandling of donations.

"I was not in control of my charity. I put the control in the hands of a lawyer," she told reporters after she was made a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.

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The model added that she was "investigating to find out what and how -- as everything I do and every penny I ever raised goes towards charities".

Campbell's three-night stay at the hotel in Cannes cost £7,800 ($10,400).

The UK Charity Commission, which conducted the inquiry, said it saw no evidence the trustees had made sure that such costs were "reasonable".

The regulator also looked at additional expenses totalling £6,600 for Campbell's hotel stay, including spa treatments, room service and the purchase of cigarettes.

The commission said the trustees had argued hotel costs were usually met by a donor but failed to provide any supporting evidence.

Fashion for Relief was dissolved and removed from the register of charities earlier this year.

Set up in 2005, it described itself as "dedicated to improving the lives of those living in adversity by uniting the fashion industry as a force for good".

Source: AFP