The supermodel Naomi Campbell has been disqualified from trusteeship after a Charity Commission inquiry found the charity she founded spent less than 9 per cent of its total expenditure on charitable grants.

Fashion for Relief, which was set up by Campbell to provide poverty relief and advance health and education through grantmaking, has been removed from the charities register and three of its former trustees – including Campbell – have been disqualified from trusteeship.

The regulator said it had also recovered more than £344,000 and protected a further £98,000 of charitable funds, which have been donated to two other charities or used to settle the charity’s outstanding liabilities.

The Charity Commission opened its inquiry into the charity in November 2021, after identifying a range of governance and financial concerns at the charity during a compliance case.

The inquiry found that between April 2016 and July 2022, the charity spent just 8.5 per cent of its overall expenditure on charitable grants. 

The regulator said the inquiry saw no evidence that trustees had reviewed the charity’s operating model to ensure its fundraising methods were in its best interests and were relative to the income generated.

The inquiry also found that unauthorised payments totalling £290,572 for consultancy services had been made to one of the charity’s trustees, Bianka Hellmich, between 31 July 2018 and 31 July 2020.

The commission said that although Hellmich agreed upon a repayment plan for these funds, the dates of the plan had not been honoured and the regulator’s appointed interim managers secured repayments to the charity.

The regulator also found that some of the charity’s fundraising expenditure was not reasonable, with thousands of pounds having been spent on travel and accommodation for trustees, their advisers and donors.

This included €14,800 (£12,300) spent on a flight from London to Nice, France, in May 2018, which was boarded by a former trustee and a major donor. 

Further costs were incurred relating to the charity’s fundraising event in Cannes, France in May 2018, the inquiry found. A sum of €9,400 (£7,800) was paid from the charity’s funds for three nights’ accommodation and between €4,000 (£3,300) to €5,000 (£4,200) was paid to cover the cost of Campbell’s personal security.

The inquiry also found that nearly €7,940 (£6,600) of charity funds were used to pay for additional hotel charges that Campbell incurred while attending this event, including spa treatments, room service and the purchase of cigarettes and hotel products.

While Campbell and the former trustee referred to by the inquiry as Trustee B told the inquiry it was their “firm recollection” that costs not relating to the charity’s events were covered by a donor, the regulator said they were unable to produce any evidence to support this assertion.

The inquiry also found that the charity’s funds were held and applied on its behalf by external solicitors and accountants rather than in a dedicated bank account in the charity’s name. After the regulator investigated these transactions, it recovered £54,236 in misapplied funds.

The regulator found that the charity’s trustees had failed to manage its partnership arrangements with Save the Children and the Mayor’s Fund for London, which it held fundraising events for.

This included failures to comply with formal partnership agreements and failing to protect the charity’s work by having formalised partnership agreements in place. Outstanding funds owed to these charities alongside goodwill donations – a total of £50,000 to MFFL and a total of nearly £194,112 to STC – and were paid by the regulator’s appointed interim managers using the charity’s remaining funds.

The regulator dissolved the charity on 15 March this year and has disqualified three of its trustees – Hellmich for nine years, Campbell for five and Veronica Chou for four.

Tim Hopkins, deputy director for specialist investigations and standards at the Charity Commission, said: “Trustees are legally required to make decisions that are in their charity’s best interests and to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities. Our inquiry has found that the trustees of this charity failed to do so, which has resulted in our action to disqualify them.  

“This inquiry, and the work of the interim managers we appointed to run the charity in place of the trustees, has resulted in the recovery of £344,000 and protection of a further £98,000 charitable funds. I am pleased that the inquiry has seen donations made to other charities which this charity has previously supported.”