As money pours into his charitable group, rapper Wyclef Jean strongly denied he has used his Yele Haiti Foundation to profit personally. But the group’s tax returns suggest otherwise.
“I have been committed to helping the people of Haiti throughout my life, and that commitment will continue until the day I die,” Jean wrote on his Web site. Jean also posted a video.
According to some estimates, the group has received close to $2 million so far in contributions for relief efforts. Yele is also a major beneficiary of MTV’s massive telethon hosted by Wyclef and George Clooney.
Top entertainers are expected to perform for free, something that Jean refused to do for his own charity.
But an examination of the organization’s tax records, which by law, must be available to the public, shows that out of more than $1 million in revenue during 2006, more than a third of the money was paid out in administrative expenses to various companies that Jean and insiders own or control.
Ironically, the money that year came from People magazine through a payment to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie for the first rights to publish baby photos of their twins. Jolie directed that all of the money go to charities.
Among the questionable payments were $250,000 to Telemax, a television station and production company owned by Jean and a Yele Haiti crony, Jerry Duplessis, who sits on the foundation’s board of directors.
The charity paid about $31,000 in rent to another Jean- and Duplessis-owned entity, Platinum Sound, a Manhattan recording studio and Jean received yet another $100,000 to perform at a Yele benefit concert, according to the records.
In addition, unnamed consultants were paid $300,000 between 2005 and 2007, while nearly $225,000 was spent in 2006 alone for “promotion and PR” costs. No further details were provided
Investigative Web site, the smokinggun.com discovered that the Wyclef Jean Foundation, which does business as Yele Haiti Foundation filed tax returns for the first time in August 2009, even though it’s been in existence for 12 years. Only tax returns for 2005, 2006, and 2007 were available.
“I denounce any allegation that I have ever profited personally through my work with Yele Haiti,” he wrote.
“These baseless attacks are simply not true. I never, or would ever, take money for my personal pocket when it comes to Yele,” he added.
While Jean’s foundation is one of the most visible collecting donations for Haiti, other celebrities are raising funds for more established charities. Find out how to donate here.
this very crazy to hear this, make me sad i can’t believe someone would say something like this about the one man who have been doing for Haiti. To those who believe that wyclef jean would do something like that your a fool. the man is willing to give his life for his country. give him a break