Naomi Campbell is to appeal against her ban on being a charity trustee, by claiming a fake email was used to impersonate her.

The 54-year-old was disqualified from being a charity trustee for five years after a watchdog found serious mismanagement of funds at Fashion for Relief, which she founded.

This included using charity funds to pay for her stay at a five-star H๏τel in Cannes, France, as well as spa treatments, room service and cigarettes.

Campbell was one of three of the charity’s trustees to be disqualified as a result of the probe by the Charity Commission, which regulates charities in England and Wales.

At the time, she said she was ‘extremely concerned’ by the regulator’s findings, adding that she was ‘not in control of my charity’ having ‘put the control in the hands of a lawyer’.

Her case is due to come before a tribunal this week, and Campbell said she wants to ‘ensure that those responsible are held accountable and justice is done’.

Naomi Campbell is to appeal against her ban on being a charity trustee, claiming a fake email was used to impersonate her 

The 54-year-old was disqualified from being a charity trustee for five years after a watchdog found serious mismanagement of funds at Fashion for Relief, which she founded 

Representatives for the model claim that documents submitted to the commission gave a false impression of her involvement in running the UK charity, with evidence of a fake email account which they said was used to impersonate Campbell in communications with lawyers.

They said she was therefore not made aware of the allegations being made in the watchdog’s inquiry and did not have the opportunity to answer them.

In a statement yesterday WED, Campbell said: ‘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 idenтιтies 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.

‘As I have said before, I have never undertaken philanthropic work for personal gain, nor will I ever do so.’

A probe into Fashion for Relief was opened by the commission in 2021, with the charity dissolved and removed from the register of charities last year.

The supermodel is pictured here at a Fashion For Relief event at Doha Fire Station in Qatar’s capital in November 2021

Campbell was one of three of the charity’s trustees to be disqualified as a result of the probe by the Charity Commission, which regulates charities in England and Wales 

Read More Naomi Campbell is banned from being charity trustee for five years after watchdog probe

It had been set up with the aim of uniting the fashion industry to relieve poverty and advance health and education, by making grants to other organisations and giving resources towards global disasters.

It hosted fundraising events to generate income, including in Cannes and London.

The regulator’s inquiry found that, between April 2016 and July 2022, 8.5% of the charity’s overall expenditure was on charitable grants.

The probe saw no evidence that trustees took action to ensure fundraising methods were in the charity’s best interests, or that the money it spent was reasonable relative to the income it generated.

It also said it found some fundraising expenditure to be misconduct or mismanagement by the charity’s trustees.

This included a 14,800 euro (£12,300) flight from London to Nice for transferring art and jewellery to a fundraising event in Cannes in 2018.

Her case is due to come before a tribunal this week, and Campbell said she wants to ‘ensure that those responsible are held accountable and justice is done’  

Representatives for the model claim that documents submitted to the commission gave a false impression of her involvement in running the UK charity

Read More How Naomi Campbell’s Fashion Relief splurged charity funds

It also looked into the decision to spend 9,400 euros (£7,800) of charity funds on a three-night stay at a five-star H๏τel for Campbell.

Last year the supermodel said she failed in her duties as a trustee and ‘may not have been as actively engaged in the charity’s day-to-day operations as she should have been’.

But she maintained she had not engaged in any financial misconduct or misused the charity during its tumultuous nine years.

The Mail On Sunday revealed that official accounts showed that it spent more than £1.6million on a glittering gala in Cannes, but gave just £5,000 to good causes over a 15-month period.

She ‘may not have been as actively engaged in the charity’s day-to-day operations as she should have been’, Campbell’s spokesperson has told the Guardian – adding that she had ‘never engaged in any form of financial misconduct.

Campbell helped launch a Fashion For Relief pop-up store at Westfield London in November 2019

Read More Tearful Naomi Campbell breaks her silence after being banned from trustee role over charity scandal

They said: ‘Naomi has never received payment for her involvement with Fashion for Relief, nor has she billed any personal expenses to the organisation.’

The charity – founded on inspirational words by Nelson Mandela telling Campbell to use her ‘voice for good’ – claimed to have raised more than £11million.

This was mostly through glitzy fundraising events held all over the world, including in New York, Mumbai and Moscow.

Campbell would take centre stage at the galas, appearing in showstopping designer gowns, and was honoured by the British Fashion Council for her services to and achievements in the fashion industry in 2019.

But concerns were raised in 2021 about how much money was being pᴀssed on to people in need after the Mayor’s Fund for London lodged an official complaint, saying that it was owed £50,000 by the charity.

The Mayor’s Fund, which helps young Londoners from low-income backgrounds, filed a ‘serious incident’ report with the Charity Commission, which announced a statutory inquiry in November that year.

Campbell would take centre stage at Fashion Relief galas, appearing in showstopping designer gowns (pictured attending a charity event for the organisation in Cannes, 2018)

Veronica Chou (pictured left, with Campbell) has also been disqualified as a trustee

The commission said that as a result of its investigation, more than £344,000 had been recovered and used to make donations to two other charities and settle Fashion For Relief’s outstanding liabilities.

The regulator found that between 2016 and 2022 only 8.5 per cent of Fashion for Relief’s expenditure was directed towards charitable grants.

Unauthorised payments of 290,000 pounds ($388,000) were made to one of the trustees, while money was also spent on room service, spa treatments and cigarettes.

The Commission published the report of its statutory inquiry into Fashion For Relief, concluding the charity was poorly governed and had inadequate financial management.

It also said it found some fundraising expenditure to be misconduct or mismanagement by the charity’s trustees.

In these cases, the trustees ‘failed to show how these were cost-effective and an appropriate use of the charity’s resources’, the Charity Commission said.

The inquiry saw no evidence trustees had reviewed the charity’s operating model to ensure fundraising methods were in the organisation’s best interest and that costs were reasonable relative to cash brought in.

Campbell was banned from being a trustee for five years, former colleagues Bianka Hellmich for nine and Veronica Chou for four.

In September she spoke to reporters in Paris to break her silence and address the Charity Commission’s findings. 

Speaking ahead of a glitzy ceremony where she was honoured with the most prestigious cultural award in France, she explained she was ‘extremely concerned’ but said: ‘I was not in control of my charity.’

‘We are investigating on our side as I was not in control of my charity,’ she said. ‘I put the control in the hands of a legal lawyer so we are investigating to find out what and how, as anything I do and every penny I ever raise goes towards charities.’