Is Yéle Haiti, one of the highest-profile charities involved the Haitian earthquake relief effort, really as selfless its famous founder maintains? New documents obtained by the Smoking Gun suggest that prior to the quake, Wyclef Jean used money donated to his foundation to pay himself and his associates.
In the immediate aftermath of the disastrous earthquake that leveled his homeland, the Grammy Award-winning musician sprang into action: He charted a flight to Port-au-Prince, and flooded new and old media with requests for donations to his charity organization's quake aid fund. Other celebrities quickly followed suit and began promoting his cause.
As of Friday morning, reports estimated that Jean had raised upwards of $2 million simply from donations made via an automated cell phone text-messaging service. But exactly how much of that money and other lower-tech donations will actually go toward helping Haitians recover remains to be seen.
The paper trail uncovered and analyzed by the Smoking Gun includes tax returns for Yéle Haiti that were first filed in August 2009, despite the fact that the organization has been incorporated for 12 years.
Indeed, over that time, Yéle Haiti has also been sanctioned and had its corporate status dissolved on multiple occasions for failing to file disclosure reports.
The tax returns show that the organization made some $60,000 in rent and service payments to Platinum Sound, a recording studio in Manhattan owned by Jean and his cousin Jerry Duplessis. Jean also paid himself $250,000 for playing his own benefit concert, which the return claims is "substantially less than market value."
To date, Jean has not responded to the Smoking Gun's accusations that Haiti earthquake aid donations are being poured into a group that has allegedly dodged proper tax procedures and "enrich[ed]" the singer.
In the immediate aftermath of the disastrous earthquake that leveled his homeland, the Grammy Award-winning musician sprang into action: He charted a flight to Port-au-Prince, and flooded new and old media with requests for donations to his charity organization's quake aid fund. Other celebrities quickly followed suit and began promoting his cause.
As of Friday morning, reports estimated that Jean had raised upwards of $2 million simply from donations made via an automated cell phone text-messaging service. But exactly how much of that money and other lower-tech donations will actually go toward helping Haitians recover remains to be seen.
The paper trail uncovered and analyzed by the Smoking Gun includes tax returns for Yéle Haiti that were first filed in August 2009, despite the fact that the organization has been incorporated for 12 years.
Indeed, over that time, Yéle Haiti has also been sanctioned and had its corporate status dissolved on multiple occasions for failing to file disclosure reports.
The tax returns show that the organization made some $60,000 in rent and service payments to Platinum Sound, a recording studio in Manhattan owned by Jean and his cousin Jerry Duplessis. Jean also paid himself $250,000 for playing his own benefit concert, which the return claims is "substantially less than market value."
To date, Jean has not responded to the Smoking Gun's accusations that Haiti earthquake aid donations are being poured into a group that has allegedly dodged proper tax procedures and "enrich[ed]" the singer.
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