Naomi Campbell will appeal her charity trustee ban by claiming a fake email was used to impersonate her - after losing her role with Fashion For Relief over 'mismanagement of funds'

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 hotel 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 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. ‘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. 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. 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 hotel 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.