Zakiya Khatou-Chevassus, Wyclef's Mistress, Received $105,000 From Yele Haiti, Blogs Allege

Wyclef Jean's Yéle Haiti, a nonprofit organization that has delivered water and supplies to the earthquake-ravaged country, is under fire yet again for alleged misappropriation of funds.

Back in late January, shortly after the 7.0 earthquake hit, Yéle Haiti was criticized for spending money on production crews in previous years, and Jean himself was accused of using money from the organization for his personal use. Jean admitted mistakes in the past, but denied wrongdoing and said he'd never take money from the organization, during an emotional press conference.

On Thursday, March 11, The Smoking Gun printed Yéle Haiti's 2009 tax return, showing that $105,000 was paid to Zakiya Khatou-Chevassus, a woman several sources say is the rapper's mistress.

From Gawker.com:

Khatou-Chevassus is currently listed on Yele's web site as the organization's vice president. But according to five sources familiar with Yele's operations, in 2008 she served as Jean's personal assistant--working on his commercial endeavors as well as his charitable ones--and was involved romantically with the former Fugees star.

"She worked for Wyclef on all Wyclef matters," says one source who has worked with Jean in the past. "She did whatever Wyclef needed that day, whether it was related to Yele or not. She would do things like book flights, and she wasn't very good at it. It's a shame that she made that much money." The source said Khatou-Chevassus' salary amounted to more than three times what Suzie Sylvain, Yele Haiti's dedicated program director who is credited by many Yele Haiti insiders with actually keeping the organization running, was paid.

Jean has again come to his defense, this time on Twitter. Some of his tweets from Monday, March 15, include:

•When Donkeys spread rumors about me I dont Respond cause I'm the master that leads them to the Well to drink the Water. Yele haiti 4 life!
•I have been spending money n my country since I was a Fugees! why is it now after the Quake I am being Excuse! They fear I'm gaining ground
•And don't get it twisted! My Garage could fit half of the people on twitter why would I steal Charity Money! Your gotta come better den dat.

Comments

[dbrett480]

05:06 PM on 04/03/2010

It's unbelievable that people are still encouraging donations to Jean's "charity." It is little more than a slush fund for him and his corrupt entourage. It's sad that after all Haiti has been through, even one of their own has no problems exploiting them.

[kapriforce]

08:54 PM on 03/31/2010

What I do know is that any of us could be in his shoes and it's unfair to him or his family to come under scrutiny when this may be an ordeal (or not) that they prefer to remain private. This was before the earthquake tragedy in Haiti, and most of the money that went into his organization was his own money. It's his money he can do whatever he wants. However, when it came to Haiti, it was Yele that knew what to do, where to go, and how to "be" with their "ear on the ground" experience. How much is that worth?

Lives were saved I'm sure. So gossip...no thank you. When his wife make a statement or 20 or so women come out of the woodwork to share their love affair with Wyclef, then I will pay attention. And for those focused on his "alleged" mistress' looks - get a life or work on that slipping through your judgmental and shallow fingers.

Namaste

[kapriforce]

08:54 PM on 03/31/2010

Apparently Wyclef Jean is still married so neither he, his wife, or the woman in question have come out to admit to any extra-martial affairs. As a news-crediting journal, using "one source who has worked with Jean in the past" is gossip-column tabloid-ish. Second, the paperwork says that this woman's salary occurred was paid that large amount of money in 2008, two year before the earthquake.

The organization "which is listed as the Wyclef Jean Foundation, Inc." has undergone changes within those two years and has grown from being not "just about Wyclef" to a viable relief organization that will be in Haiti long after the Red Cross and similar organization have moved on to the next newsworthy tragedy.

What I have a problem with is that it's cheap and isn't real news, just gossip and the only reason gawker has the document copies surrounding this gossip news is because the organization and Wyclef made it public. They feel they don't have anything to hide. I'm not a Yele advocate and I don't know Wyclef Jean and I don't follow the music industry or celebrity news to fixate on who sleeps with who.

...continued...

[Tommy Kelly]

09:58 PM on 03/22/2010

Gawker? Your source is Gawker! Come on now, seriously.

[ohnoforgotmyusername]

11:42 AM on 03/19/2010

Though Wyclef Jean's charitable foundation has operated at a deficit and experienced cash flow problems, the group actually prepaid 25 months of office rent to a New York firm jointly owned by the musician and a relative. While TSG has previously reported that the Wyclef Jean Foundation has been paying $3200 monthly to a Manhattan recording studio owned by the musician and his cousin Jerry Duplessis, accounting statements show that, in 2006, the not-for-profit group paid $65,000 upfront for that space. According to two sources, the Jean foundation's "office" was actually a cafe table in the West 46th Street studio's kitchen. Excerpts from the accounting statements, filed three months ago with the New York State Attorney General, can be found here and here. The documents do not explain the foundation's bizarre decision to prepay Platinum Sound Recording Studios rent covering all of 2006 and 2007, as well as January 2008. That hefty lump sum payout to the Jean/Duplessis firm, of course, came during a year in which the foundation paid an additional $350,000 to for-profit firms co-owned by Jean. Now that he has unburdened himself of the probe of Governor David Paterson, perhaps Andrew Cuomo can find some time to examine the questionable financial practices of Jean's organization, which is now flush with cash donated in the wake of the Haiti earthquake.

[Jesse Taylor]

02:32 AM on 03/19/2010

Awwww he's crying. Shouldn't we all have some pity?

[lovbug]

11:44 AM on 03/17/2010

not trying to be racist but it's fact. Too many times people are too quick to jump on the bandwagon and ruin people's lives and character over hearsay, with no facts to back it up. It's like a germ that spreads quickly. Glad you think your comments are more relevant than others, stay true to yourself.

[Jesse Taylor]

02:34 AM on 03/19/2010

I don't know to what you are referring. But I can't think of a single time where someone has started a sentence with "I'm not trying to be racist/sexist, but..." that wasn't totally ignorant and racist/sexist.

[hacksaw]

02:40 AM on 03/19/2010

I think he/she is trying to say it he’s being accused because of the color of his skin

[realitytrumpsbull]

04:24 AM on 03/17/2010

There's no cause so noble as to automatically be immune to the ministrations of sticky-fingered people.

[MizFlagPin]

02:48 AM on 03/17/2010

Text Yele to 501501 or Haiti to 501501 to give to an organization that has a long history of helping Haitians BEFORE the other orgs jumped on the gravy train.

[tweedledeedumb]

09:17 AM on 03/17/2010

Yeah? Does his mistress need another infusion?

[MizFlagPin]

01:34 PM on 03/17/2010

Text Yele to 501501 or Haiti to 501501.

[ohnoforgotmyusername]

11:50 AM on 03/19/2010

Text YELE to 551155 to donate to Khatou-Chevassus' salary now...

[MizFlagPin]

11:50 AM on 03/21/2010

Text Yele to 501501 or Haiti to 501501.

[winningticket]

11:54 PM on 03/16/2010

Whether there was wrong doing at Wyclef's Yele remains to be seen. What I do find funny, if Haiti didn't have the earthquake, would these opportunistic bloggers have paid attention to Wyclef's alleged misdeeds with Yele? I don't think so.

[harriettubman]

11:40 PM on 03/16/2010

It's well known he has mistresses, including Lauryn Hill. However, when legitimate agencies start investigating these charities people need to see some red flags. Sorry Jean but I will not be contributing to your charity. I had issues with the last report.

Any charity that doesn't give at least 85% of the profits to charity can forget it. I actually give to a church related agency that gives 100% of its donations. It's been around for years too.

[lionzion]

12:36 AM on 03/17/2010

Lauryn Hill is married with 4 Kids now, I think, to one if the Marley brothers in Jamaica. Their relationship was a long time ago. 10 years plus ago!

[thisinvention]

11:23 PM on 03/16/2010

I think a lot of the larger Charities are upset that Wyclef's little upstart NGO got the lions share of the money donated and he might actually use a lot of it to help his people rather then have it sit in some bank accounts and pay $500,000 a year salaries for the various CEOs of Red Cross (USA, Canada, etc) and the like. So let smear him as much as possible and try to get him to give the money to the bigger NGOs.

Nah Clef's put that money to use in Haiti these allegations are just a smoke screen!

[harriettubman]

11:41 PM on 03/16/2010

I don't think so. Every time someone finds discrepancies someone wants to claim jealousy. This is mismanagment. That's all there is to it.

[Bados]

01:31 AM on 03/17/2010

Damn you seem more concerned with Wyclefs business than Haiti. LOL

Call me crazy but I'm big on facts.
Until then I dont have much of an opinion.
You seem to take the opposite approach.

[PoliticalRockChick]

10:52 PM on 03/16/2010

Many people don't realize, majority of the charities people donated to for Haiti, will never go to Haiti. From what the reports stated last month, about over $500 million worldwide was raised and only 10 percent will go to Haiti. It's sad, but that's the truth. Red Cross keeps majority of that money, along with Unicef.

[Redeemer777]

11:07 PM on 03/16/2010

Are you serious about this? Is this true? Can you point me to a link?

[harriettubman]

11:43 PM on 03/16/2010

UMCOR donates 100% of their donations.
http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/

[PoliticalRockChick]

01:42 AM on 03/19/2010

Here's an article that was written in Reuters: http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2010/01/15/dont-give-money-to-haiti/

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/01/18/charity-donations-spending.html

[fridakahlofan]

06:05 AM on 03/17/2010

I'm interested in this info, can you provide me with link, or where I can find out what amount actually goes to Haiti, it's people, etc? I think this is info the public would benefit from knowing.

[PoliticalRockChick]

01:42 AM on 03/19/2010

Here's an article that was written in Reuters: http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2010/01/15/dont-give-money-to-haiti/

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/01/18/charity-donations-spending.htm

[Alfredo Zapata]

10:47 PM on 03/16/2010

One more reason to give to a reputable local charity,

[Ospree19]

10:18 PM on 03/16/2010

Wyclef has a double digitB