Naomi Campbell has won her appeal against a five-year ban on being a charity trustee imposed in 2024. A tribunal ruled that she was unaware of the misconduct at Fashion for Relief, including unauthorised payments and misuse of funds, which had been concealed from her by fellow trustee Bianka Hellmich. The panel found that Campbell's evidence was honest and corroborated by documents, lifting the ban despite acknowledging serious mismanagement in the charity’s operations.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-01,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In 2024, Naomi Campbell, aged 56, was banned from being a charity trustee in England and Wales for five years after the Charity Commission found serious mismanagement of funds at her charity, Fashion for Relief. The ban stemmed from issues like unauthorized payments to fellow trustee Bianka Hellmich and misuse of funds. This year, Campbell challenged the decision in the First Tier Tribunal, arguing she was unaware of these actions due to being deceived by Hellmich. On Thursday, a three-person tribunal ruled in her favor, finding that serious misconduct resulted from Hellmich’s conduct, not Campbell's. As a result, Hellmich received a nine-year ban, and another trustee, Veronica Chou, got a four-year ban. The ruling clears Campbell to resume charity work related to Fashion for Relief, which was originally established in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina.
Written for “Naomi Campbell Wins Charity Case” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.
- Published
Model Naomi Campbell has won her appeal against a ban on being a charity trustee, after a tribunal ruled that she was unaware of misconduct at her charity Fashion for Relief.
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she → publish → Relief
Campbell was banned from being a charity trustee for five years in 2024 after a watchdog found that Fashion for Relief funds had been spent on luxury hotels and spa treatments.
However, a tribunal said on Thursday, external that the most serious instances of misconduct in the charity "were concealed" from Campbell by a fellow trustee.
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instances → ban → trustee
"Ms Campbell was not involved in, and did not know of, that conduct," the three-person tribunal panel said.
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panel → involve → conduct
The supermodel set up Fashion for Relief to help victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and went on to front further campaigns for disasters and causes around the world.
However, the charity was shut in 2023 and Campbell and two other trustees were banned the following year after a Charity Commission inquiry found "serious mismanagement and/or misconduct" at Fashion for Relief, which was not passing on as much of the money raised as it was supposed to.
Campbell appealed, saying one of her fellow trustees, lawyer Bianka Hellmich, forged her signature and impersonated her using a fake email address to misdirect money that was intended for the charity.
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that → set → charity
Her "only mistake" was trusting Hellmich, Campbell told the tribunal in June.
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Campbell → trust → June
Hellmich has denied the allegations.
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Hellmich → deny → allegations
The Charity Commission opposed Campbell's challenge and said the five-year ban should be upheld.
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ban → oppose → challenge
In its ruling, the First-Tier Tribunal panel said Campbell's claim that she was deceived had been corroborated by documentary evidence.
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she → say → evidence
"For the avoidance of doubt, we accept that both Ms Campbell's evidence, as well as her conduct during the operation of the Charity, was entirely honest," they said.
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they → accept → Charity
They said Campbell did not know €4,386 (£3,750) of hotel charges from a trip to the south of France in 2018 - including €1,298 (£1,100) for dinner room service, €1,163 (£990) for spa treatments and €112 (£95) for cigarettes - had come out of the charity's expenses.
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4,386 → say → expenses
"The panel is satisfied that Ms Campbell was not responsible for the inappropriate use of the charity's resources or any unjustified expenditure, nor did she contribute or facilitate it," they said.
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they → contribute → it
Campbell must take some responsibility for failures to maintain minutes and file accounts on time - but that was not enough to disqualify the model as a charity trustee, the tribunal said.
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tribunal → take → trustee
"There was serious misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the charity she founded, Fashion for Relief," the ruling said.
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ruling → be → 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.
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features → find → Campbell
"
Unauthorised payments of more than £290,000 were made to Hellmich for apparent consultancy fees, the inquiry found.
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inquiry → make → fees
The tribunal ruling continued: "Ms Hellmich deceived Ms Campbell, used forged documents and a false email address purporting to belong to her, and also deceived professional advisers and the Commission.
"
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Hellmich → continue → advisers
Ms Campbell was not involved in, and did not know of, that conduct.
"
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Campbell → involve → ?
The Tribunal finds that she had no reasonable basis to suspect Ms Hellmich's dishonesty before regulatory concerns emerged and, when they did, Ms Campbell took reasonable steps in response."
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Campbell → find → response
The ruling said Hellmich's solicitors wrote to the tribunal to deny the allegations against her, but she was not called to give evidence and did not take part in the proceedings.
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she → say → proceedings
A Charity Commission spokesperson said: "We made the disqualification order for Ms Campbell based on the evidence available to us at the time.
"
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We → say → time
The court recognised that Ms Campbell, the Commission and the law firm concerned were subject to sophisticated deception by one of the other trustees.
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Campbell → recognise → trustees
This was referred to the Metropolitan Police when we became aware.
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we → refer → Police
"We acknowledge and will reflect on the court's decision and are considering any wider implications for our work."
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We → acknowledge → work
The Charity Commission also said its intervention ensured other charities including Save the Children and The Mayor's Fund for London received almost £250,000 that was owed to them.
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that → say → them
BBC News has tried to contact Campbell and Hellmich.
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News → try → Campbell
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