Posted on 10/13/2012 5:57:26 AM PDT by blam
Wyclef's Haiti Charity Is Now Defunct After Mishandling $16M In Donations
Aly Weisman
Oct. 12, 2012, 6:52 PM
Wyclef's Yéle charity is no longer.
Wyclef Jean's Yéle Haiti charity, once what the singer said was the country's "greatest asset and ally" is now defunct and in debt.
The charity's collapse comes after years of accusations of mishandled funds, which amounted to a reported $16 million following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
"Yéle was small before the earthquake, with only $37,000 in assets," reports The New York Times. "Immediately afterward, money started pouring in. Mr. Jean said he raised $1 million in 24 hours when he urged his Twitter followers to text donations."
Instead of funds going directly to the cause, The Times reports that the organization spent much of its money on "offices, salaries, consultants’ fees and travel," as well as pay for Jean's family, friends and defense.
“If I had depended on Yéle,” said Diaoly Estimé, whose orphanage features a wall painting of Mr. Jean and his wife, “these kids would all be dead by now.”
Between 2005-2009, the charity spent "$256,580 in illegitimate benefits to Mr. Jean and other Yéle board and staff members as well as improper or potentially improper transactions."
One "improper" use of funds included doling out $30,763 to fly Lindsay Lohan to a fundraiser that raised $66,000 and spending $57,927 on private jets to fly Matt Damon and other celebs to Haiti.
Following the earthquake in 2010, Yéle spent $9 million of their $16 million in donations on office space and salaries.
Jean himself took $100,000 to perform a charity concert and has given his relatives paychecks of over half a million dollars.
Not to mention, The Smoking Gun posted documents showing that the group made payments of over $100,000 to Jean's alleged mistress.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
That's racist.
A Black man is entitled to his ho's.
Interesting. Thanks for posting.
Wyclef Jean sounds like the Duvaliers....no wonder Haiti is the biggest Third World Craphole in this Hemisphere.
Anyone who is surprised by this has absolutely no common sense.
As a French colonial official, I’m sure the inspector was perfectly familiar with such situations.
Turn it into an American Protectorate for 99 years and then give it to the Dominican Republic. Just think of what we could do with the place AFTER moving the population to whatever French speaking 3rd world country would take them. We could give them small welfare checks deposited to the banks.
do I really have to say it???
With Slick overseeing the Hatee money flood, you know he helped siphon off “his share”.
Sixteen million bucks is chump change! Democrats HAVE TO BE ELECTED so they can loot the public treasury. That’s where the real money is. You can buy a lot of choice choom with trillions of dollars.
Friends in Dominican Republic explain their western neighbors stupidity is because of all the plantain seeds they eat. Maybe something to it..... then again its just a Caribbean mini-version of any African country.
If you dig deep enough, this sort of thing is not uncommon with "non-profits". They can be, and are, used as a vehicle to avoid taxes while providing entertainment to their donors and employment to the children of the elites.
Or perhaps it is the contrasting demographics of Haiti vs DR, primarily caused by the Haitian Revolution of 1791, where they massacred the much of the white population and sent the remainder fleeing to other countries.
The contrast between Haiti and DR is similar to the contrast between Zimbabwe(GDP per capita $500) and neighbor South Africa (GDP per capita $11,100, for the moment).
My associates in the DR have a popular expression for when things go bad. They shrug their shoulders and say “Hey! At least we ain’t Haiti.”
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