Did Wyclef Jean Personally Profit From Yele Haiti Foundation?

Wyclef Jean has come under fire again for allegedly partaking in shady charitable transactions, but the Grammy winner says that the claims are "misleading, deceptive and incomplete."

The New York Post reported exclusively on Sunday that Yele Haiti, the nonprofit Jean founded with Jerry Duplessis in 2005, spent just $5.1 million of its $16 million on earthquake relief efforts. The Post also alleged that the organization solicited questionable agencies to carry out its work.

But the former Fugees star said in a statement Sunday that the allegations are unfounded and that his charity rebuilt an orphanage and provided food and shelter to 250,000 people in need.

"Immediate decisions were made to save lives and alleviate suffering," Jean said. "We made decisions that enabled us to provide emergency assistance in the midst of chaos and we stand by those decisions."

But the New York Post reported that some of those decisions have raised red flags.

The news outlet noted that Yele Haiti paid Amisphere Farm Labor Inc $1,008,000 to serve as a food distributor in Haiti. But the Post found no trace of the Miami business, which never filed the appropriate paperwork to be incorporated in Florida.

Jean pointed out in his statement that Amisphere prepared and delivered close to 100,000 meals in the earthquake's aftermath.

This isn't the first time that the ethics of Jean's charity have been scrutinized.

In 2010, the Smoking Gun unveiled that Jean and his partner collected at least $410,000 from the organization for rent, production services and Jean's appearance at a charity concert, which brought in $100,000 alone.

"It seems clear that a significant amount of the monies that this charity raises go for costs other than providing benefits to Haitians in need," Dean Zerbe, the former tax counsel to the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees charities, told The Washington Post in 2010.

While Jean admitted to making mistakes in the past, he expressed his organization's commitment to empowering the people of Haiti.

"I will always love and serve the Haitian people until the day I die," Jean said. "I am proud of the way that Yele handled the crisis on the ground in 2010."

WATCH:

Is Wyclef Jean Stealing Money from His Haiti Relief Fund

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Comments

[RDX]

09:29 AM on 11/29/2011

It looks bad Wyclef, it looks real bad.

[PATOISJAM]

07:55 AM on 11/29/2011

Haiti is corrupt because doing basic things (such as obtaining a permit, picking up shipping supplies )involve paying off everyone involved in each step. When this becomes the way of life and ingrained in a set of people you will always have to be wary.

[naftalynn]

09:18 PM on 11/29/2011

When my family ships goods to Haiti, the recipient gets it delivered directly at their home free of charge. We've never had to bribe anyone. No bribing required to obtain a permit, just patience because the lines are long. Usually if you're bribing someone it's because you're trying to do something illegal or obtain special favors. There are corrupt people in Haiti, but most are honest people.

[PATOISJAM]

10:17 PM on 11/29/2011

Thank you for that. But that has not been my experience.

[nam medic]

07:10 AM on 11/29/2011

All good causes become a business and slide into a scam

[NZBB]

09:58 PM on 11/28/2011

haha, isn't this the same Wyclef Jean that really, really wanted to be Haiti's president? (only not enough to actually live there and qualify for such office).

[necromancer]

08:38 PM on 11/28/2011

I am sorry for being a skeptic. Charities is just another business for milking.
I realize good help costs money. I am of-course referring to most NGO's these days are not a charity per say, its just an excuse to do the milking away from home & avoid closer public scrutiny.
Go to any foreign country & the majority of the NGO's live in style, entertain in style, are driven around in style & earn tax free in style. So they don't do it for the greater good of his fellow man.
No siree & many do more than charity work whilst out there, many are perceived to be working for Govt: organizations, you know what I mean?

[cwaged1002]

07:39 PM on 11/28/2011

The New York Post? HP you are really scraping the bottom of the barrel .
I read, in an old copy of Vanity Fair that HP was the left's answer to Fox
News. I didn't get when read it, now I do.

[TurnSeiki]

07:30 PM on 11/28/2011

Ummm, we're talking about HAITI here?! And a HAITIAN administrating a "charity". Hello McFly?!?! I knew as soon as I heard Wyclef was setting up a charity/foundation that 95% of the proceeds would go to administration. People are so gullible.

[naftalynn]

07:39 PM on 11/28/2011

What we are talking about is the nypost and the yellow journalism to which it adheres. Wyclef's charity was administered by the American Hugh Locke. Here is what he has to say:

http://www.showbiz411.com/2011/11/28/exclusive-yele-haiti-former-chief-responds-to-ny-post-breaks-out-numbers

[cwaged1002]

07:46 PM on 11/28/2011

All the money US citizens donated to Haiti is under the control of Bill Clinton and
George Bush. It is all being spent to set up factories in Haiti so the poor can compete in the Free Market race to the bottom for labor. They hedged a bet that the people of Haiti will work cheaper then others poor country's workers will.

[Hipppo]

09:39 PM on 11/28/2011

It is pointless occupying and terrorizing HAITIANS, by the so called "UN PEACE KEEP KEEPERS" and US marines, in the flip side they trying to make it look like billions of dollars is going to help the victims of the conspiracy.
It doesn't take a great deal of thinking to figure it out. Bill Clinton, George Bush, Wyclef and all the NGOs are trying to steal their fair share in the expense of the sick, the hungry, the disabled and the dying HAITIANS. It's a shame and disturbing!
Set the HAITIANS FREE, so they can help themselves. FREE HAITI!

[catpeople]

07:12 PM on 11/28/2011

Yuk- that's the only word that comes to mind. He should be opening up the entire organization to an outside audit if he's interested in salvaging his "good name". Otherwise, it's all just lip service.

[Red Russet]

06:00 PM on 11/28/2011

He should be thrown in jail - he is a scammer and grifter.

[scepto-cynic]

05:57 PM on 11/28/2011

"I will always love and serve the Haitian people until the day I die," Jean said. "I am proud of the way that Yele handled the crisis on the ground in 2010."

He did do a good job of getting the MSM to overlooking the Smoking Gun allegations.

Imagine the level of corruption if he would have gone on to become President of Haiti.

[Tblack]

05:23 PM on 11/28/2011

All Wyclef ever does it take. Then he looks you in the eye and tells the most childish lies that ever were. He should be forced to live in Haiti and never return.

[naftalynn]

05:09 PM on 11/28/2011

Wyclef's organizati­on isn't operated any differentl­y than the other charities in Haiti. I'll wait until I see the entire tax report before I past judgment. For most charities operating in Haiti the bulk of their funds in spent on travel, transporta­tion (read SUV), living expenses, salaries of CEOs, accountant­s and analysts, and fundraisin­g. It's common practice in the industry to use donations to fund events such as concerts, galas and dinners, even though those functions rarely generate profit. Most charities hire not necessaril­y the best contractor­s but the ones they already know or have been referred to them. What's different about Jean's organizati­on is that it seems to be the only being scrutinize­d.

[naftalynn]

05:20 PM on 11/28/2011

sorry for the double post.

[peegan]

06:28 PM on 11/28/2011

He is open to scrutiny because of past behavior. And many of the charities serving Haiti have been examined. Go to Charity Navigator to get rankings on many of them. They give info on many fiscal areas of a charity including administrative expenses, fundraising costs,  auditing by outside company, financial transactions with related parties, and overall transparency.

[naftalynn]

06:59 PM on 11/28/2011

Many charities operate less than efficiently in Haiti or exaggerate their good deeds. I've seen reports of reputable charities who claim to have helped X amount of people, yet when the camps were visited it was found that the residents didn't receive any aid, but those stories are never picked-up by mainstream media. I've read tax reports from other organizations where there were discrepancies. Not all fill their tax reports yearly, some haven't filed in years. From what I've seen with other charities, Yele's is no worse than the others. It seems that certain organizations are off limits by the media.

[naftalynn]

04:28 PM on 11/28/2011

I'll wait until the tax reports are made public to judge him. His organization is not operated any differently than other charities. Most charities spend the bulk of their funds on things such as travel, transportation, living expenses (usually astronomical), salary for CEOs, accountants and analysts, and fund-raising. Using charity to fund events such as concerts, galas and dinners -- even when those events rarely generate profits -- is pretty standard in the industry. What's different is that Jean's organization seems to be the only one to be scrutinized by the media.

[343Guiltyspark]

04:16 PM on 11/28/2011

Not sure why this would be a surprise to anyone. When he announced his involvement with the Hatii Earthquake, the news was talking about the rumors of his pocketing money from before the Earthquake. Maybe I was just the only person who happened to catch it :P

[American 69]

04:12 PM on 11/28/2011

Every Haitian I have talked to that wants to get into the "Haiti Relief" business wants to do it for personal profit and most of them have a "contact' or "friend" in the government (or claim to) that will share the profit by directing business to them. I haven't talked to them all but, I can understand why donor nations and NGO's are very cautious about anything to do with Haitian relief. A year has passed and most people are still living in tents and Port au Prince is still a shambles. Haiti is a failed state and a charity basket case and yet we continue with the fable that it is a country ?

[naftalynn]

04:39 PM on 11/28/2011

Most Haitians with means have been taking care of their families and communities for decades without asking for donations or attention from the public. They want to get into the charity business because they see how lucrative it's been for the NGOs in Haiti. They are a little late in the game because there were already 10 000 NGOs operating in Haiti before the earthquake. Donor nations and NGOs manage their funds completely independently of Haitians.

[Gennie Moulin]

06:55 PM on 11/30/2011

Lets get REAL folks we are in this trouble because we keep making excuses for these people. Do you really believe that the New York Times just woke up one morning and decided to make up this story?
Wyclef had already been accused of theft before so even with the earth quake urgency what he should have done is set up the donations to go to one of the four big accounting firms (Price Waterhouse, Deloitte Touche, KPMG and Ernest Yopung) they have the capacity to set up accounts quickly especially for an event such as that. Then all the monies would be accounted for.
This mixing of his brothe- in-law and other families handling donation monies and having families buy personal land such as condos and other things were verified and can be verified by the public online. You can verify this it is published. I just did!
The New York Times is not lying. We need to look at facts or else we will not get ahead. I am very saddened by the behavior , I think that the monies should be returned to the people living in tents so that they can have a better life. Very sad day!