Naomi Campbell was the victim of a ‘concerted deception’ by a fellow trustee over the running of her fashion charity and a subsequent inquiry which saw her banned from being a charity trustee, the supermodel’s lawyers have argued.
Last year, the 54-year-old runway icon was barred from being a charity trustee for five years after the Charity Commission uncovered a string of misconduct and financial mismanagement by the glamorous fundraising organisation she founded, Fashion For Relief UK.
During a three-year probe, the watchdog for charities in England and Wales discovered just 8 per cent of the almost £4.8million raised at star-studded events reached good causes.
Vast sums were spent on private jet flights and a luxury hotel stay in Cannes enjoyed by Campbell, along with spa treatments, room service and cigarettes.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds were also paid in ‘consultancy fees’ to the supermodel’s then-friend Bianka Hellmich, a Polish lawyer and socialite, who was one of the organisation’s trustees.
The British supermodel today launched a tribunal appeal to quash her five-year charity trustee ban, claiming the order was ‘wrongly made’ because of the ‘deception practiced on her (and the Commission)’.
In his skeleton argument, her lawyer, Andrew Westwood KC, argued documents provided by the Commission reveal ‘significant further evidence of motive on the part of (at least) Ms Hellmich for the concerted deception of Campbell, both in relation to the Commission’s Inquiry that led to the making of the Order and in the running of the Charity more broadly.’
He added: ‘In particular, the documents appear to show that during the period that the Charity was operational (2016-2021) Ms Hellmich was paid in excess of £500,000 out of Charity funds…’
Naomi Campbell takes to the runway for a show dedicated to her fashion charity Fashion For Relief
The supermodel’s lawyers claim a fake email address was created by an unknown person and used to impersonate her in an elaborate bid to allegedly defraud the charity and ‘keep her in the dark about the Commission Inquiry which led to the making of the order’.
They also revealed that BT group have the ‘name and address linked to the IP address which it is now known was used to create and access the fake email addresses’ and applied to the judge to order the telecoms group to reveal the person behind them.
They said the matter went to a ‘central issue in the appeal’ and that the application was unopposed by BT Group and the Commission.
Campbell’s lawyers also applied to the judge for disclosure of the Commission’s entire file on the now-defunct charity and all material relating to its investigation.
Mr Westwood argued that because of the ‘deception’ she was not given ‘the opportunity to respond to the reasons for disqualification and without having had sight of many of the documents relied on by the Commission in taking such action’.
He argued it was ‘fundamentally unfair’ Campbell was having to ‘respond to allegations based on and decisions made by reference to certain documents she still has not seen’.
Faisel Sadiq, representing the Charity Commission, said in his skeleton argument that Campbell is ‘positively asserting that she was the victim of fraud and forgery’.
‘An important feature of the appellant’s grounds of appeal is that broadly she does not dispute that there was misconduct/mismanagement in the administration of the charity, but instead she contends that she was unaware of the misconduct/mismanagement due to wholesale deceit being perpetrated against her by a fellow trustee, Ms Bianka Hellmich,’ he said.
Supermodel Naomi Campbell attends a book signing in Paris, France in September of last year
‘Indeed, the appellant goes so far as alleging that her signature on a document had been forged.’
Speaking during the hearing on Friday, Mr Sadiq said Campbell’s case ‘is not to criticise the commission’, but to say that it was a fraud and that her case in a nutshell is: ‘I knew nothing about it, I was a figurehead.’
He insisted there needed to be ‘reasonableness and proportionality’ over the application for full disclosure, arguing that the Commission had already given ‘extensive opportunities’ for this, providing some 1,665 pages of material.
Mr Sadiq added in written argument that if ‘disclosure is to be ordered [it] ought to be limited to that which is necessary’.
The Commission applied to the judge for disclosure of ‘all written communications’ between Campbell, her fellow trustees, and the charity’s professional advisors between September 2020 and April 2024.
The judge refused Campbell’s application for full disclosure of the Commission’s documents and granted the Commission’s application for the supermodel’s communications. A date for further hearings has yet to be set.
Between 2016 and 2020, Fashion For Relief UK staged on a series of catwalk shows attended by stars including fellow supermodel Kate Moss, Beyonce and Pierce Brosnan to raise money for charities.
After a three-year probe, the Charity Commission discovered that just 8 per cent of the almost £4.8million raised at the events reached the good causes they were intended for.
In 2024 the fashion iconic was barred from being a charity trustee for five years after the Charity Commission uncovered a string of misconduct and financial mismanagement by the fundraising organisation she founded, Fashion For Relief UK
The fundraising organisation was later dissolved and Campbell was handed a five-year ban as a charity trustee.
Hellmich was struck off for nine years. A third trustee, a socialite named Veronica Chou, was blacklisted for four years.
Neither Ms Hellmich nor Ms Chou have launched appeals against their disqualifications, the hearing heard.
Ahead of the hearing, Campbell said in a statement: ‘I am grateful to the Tribunal for allowing me to appeal the Charity Commission’s findings after considering the evidence I have submitted.
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.
‘Having begun legal action, I will have more to say in due course. This is just the beginning.
The 54-year-old’s lawyers are arguing that she was the victim of a ‘concerted deception’ by a fellow trustee
‘As I have said before, I have never undertaken philanthropic work for personal gain, nor will I ever do so.’
A Charity Commission spokesman 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 co-operate fully with the tribunal as it does so.’
Ms Hellmich has been contacted for comment on Campbell’s latest claims.
In December, sources close to her told the Mail she had nothing to do with the ‘fake’ email account.
A friend of Ms Hellmich previously said she disputes the supermodel’s version of events.
They said the email address belonged to Ms Campbell and was among several she used over the years.
‘She is a woman with many email addresses and many phone numbers,’ a friend of Ms Hellmich added.
