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Musician Wyclef Jean held an impassioned press conference and posted a video on YouTube denying misdoings by his charity, Yele Haiti. The Smoking Gun posted documents on Friday showing that the charity has been dissolved four separate times by the Florida Division of Corporations for failing to file necessary annual reports. Yele Haiti also filed three years of overdue tax returns for 2005, 2006 and 2007 all at once in August, 2009. What’s more is that large sums of money went to questionable expenses that only benefited Jean and his partner, like $250,000 for television production expenses using Jean’s own company and $100,000 straight to Jean for performing at a charity benefit.
Wyclef Jean defended his Haitian relief fund Monday against critics who say there are more reputable charities to give to – especially in light of some questionable spending and his failure to file with the IRS.
“My dad always told me, ‘If you’re a man with a clear conscience, speak with a clear conscience and the world will know,’ ” the superstar singer said.
“Have we made mistakes before? Yes. Did I ever use Yele money for personal benefit? Absolutely not.”
The scrutiny of the Wyclef Jean Foundation, also known as the Yele Haiti Foundation, comes as the son of Haiti has raised some $2 million since the quake struck.
A 2006 tax return surfaced on the TheSmokingGun.com last week showing that Yele spent $250,000 on television production for Telemax, a company that Jean owns with Yele board member Jerry Duplessis.
An additional $31,000 was spent on rental space for Platinum Sound, a Manhattan-based company Wyclef also owns with Duplessis.
And $100,000 of Yele’s funds were used to pay Wyclef after he sang at a benefit concert in Monte Carlo, Monaco, the documents show.
Hugh Locke, president of the Wyclef Jean Foundation, admitted the Telemax deal and others were mistakes.
He said criticism that Jean’s foundation was too closely intertwined with Jean’s businesses is valid – and won’t happen again.
Jean promised his donors, thousands who’ve donated $5 through text messages, that their money will be spent on saving lives.
“Yele’s books are open and transparent,” he said, despite the group’s failure to file several years of reports with the IRS until recently.
[From NY Daily News]
It’s to be expected that charities are questioned, especially now that so much money is pouring in from people who genuinely want to help the victims in Haiti. After watching his press conference, above, I can see that Jean really cares about his country and genuinely wants to help. I donated to a more established charity, though, because it just doesn’t make sense to give money to a charity that’s poorly managed. You want your money to help people and not go to overhead.
Jean should have hired someone to help file taxes and annual reports every year when they were required and he should have made sure the books were in order. He may not have profited from Yele Haiti, but the charity was dissolved four times by the state. That’s damning enough on its own. The sad thing is that this scandal over Jean’s charity has distracted from the real crisis. There are people dying who need our help. Let’s hope that people who want to donate are not discouraged from giving to established charities.
You can donate to Haitian earthquake relief through Global Giving, which gives to established, vetted organizations that are helping on the ground.
