Overview
- Campbell appeared in a London tribunal on Tuesday to challenge a five-year ban the Charity Commission imposed in 2024 after finding serious mismanagement at Fashion for Relief.
- The regulator found that only 8.5% of the charity’s spending from 2016 went to grants and identified improper personal payments including a luxury hotel stay, spa treatments, room service and cigarettes.
- The Charity Commission reported roughly £290,000 was paid to trustee Bianka Hellmich for purported consultancy work and disqualified Hellmich for nine years while Veronica Chou was barred for four years and the charity was dissolved in 2024.
- Campbell told the tribunal she was a victim of identity fraud and forgery, saying fake email accounts and forged communications concealed wrongdoing and that both her team and the regulator have referred matters to the police.
- The tribunal is now hearing the appeal and will rule on whether the disqualification stands, a decision that could affect accountability rules for celebrity-founded charities and how trustee responsibility is judged.