Wyclef Jean Under Investigation for His Charity

Shapecity · Jan 21, 2010

LOS ANGELES -- Groups that vet charities are raising doubts about the organization backed by Haitian-born rapper Wyclef Jean, questioning its accounting practices and ability to function in earthquake-hit Haiti.

Even as hundreds of thousands of dollars poured into The Wyclef Jean Foundation Inc. via text message, experts questioned how much of the money would help those in need.
"It's questionable. There's no way to get around that," said Art Taylor, president and chief executive of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, based in Arlington, Va.
Taylor reviewed Internal Revenue Service tax returns for the organization also known as Yele Haiti Foundation from 2005 through 2007. He said the first red flag of poor accounting practices was that three years of returns were filed on the same day -- Aug. 10 of last year.
In 2007, the foundation's spending exceeded its revenues by $411,000. It brought in just $79,000 that year.

"Here's the bottom line: for an earthquake of catastrophic proportions, do people really believe that this organization is in a position to do anything right now?" he said.

Jean, a 37-year-old Grammy-winning artist, has been imploring followers to text "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5 to his foundation in support of Haitian earthquake victims. Jean has said he wants to raise $1 million a day.

The foundation, founded in January 2005, intends to airlift supplies using a FedEx plane into Haiti early next week carrying medical supplies, water and Clif Bars, according to foundation president Hugh Locke.

An Associated Press review of tax returns and independent audits provided by Jean's foundation showed that it was closely intertwined with Jean's businesses.
Three of the five foundation board members -- Jean, Jerry Duplessis and Seth Kanegis -- are involved in his personal music and business endeavors.

According to an IRS tax return from 2006 reviewed earlier by the Web site The Smoking Gun, the foundation paid $250,000 to buy airtime from Telemax S.A., a for-profit TV station in Haiti that is majority owned by Jean and Duplessis.

Part of that money went to pay for a concert in Haiti put on by Jean himself, Locke said.
Another $160,000 that year was spent on a concert in Monte Carlo that Jean participated in, of which $75,000 paid for backup singers and $25,000 went to Jean through a company he owns with Duplessis, Platinum Sound Recording Studios Inc., Locke said.

"I'm not saying he didn't benefit from it," said Locke, who says his own salary is $8,100 a month after taxes. "We were paying that to Platinum Sound because that covered the cost of him participating in the event."

Locke argued that the foundation took in "several hundred thousand" dollars in exchange for Jean's work through the proceeds of an auction.

The foundation also rents office space from Platinum Sound, paying about $2,600 a month in New York. Locke said the foundation also plans to partner with Jean's Sak Pase Records to build a music studio to provide vocational training to Haitian children.

Sandra Miniutti, vice president of marketing for Charity Navigator, an organization that evaluates charities, said the foundation was too small to have been examined recently, although the current flood of goodwill may change that.
Its revenue in 2008 was $1.9 million.

"My concern is it goes against our first tip, and that is to give only to groups with experience with disaster relief," Miniutti said. "I think it's very hard for a new organization even with the best intentions to handle something on this magnitude."

Locke said the foundation has been directly involved in delivering food and providing clean-up services in many disasters, including the hurricanes that devastated Haiti in late 2008. Jean's standing among Haitians can help the foundation gain access to gang-controlled or other troubled regions, he said.

"We have a niche which no one else occupies," Locke said.

He said the foundation is now seeking bridge financing to allow it to use money that has been pledged in unprecedented volumes by text message.

It could take at least a month for donors' money to flow in because it is not released until they pay their phone bills.

That delay presents a challenge and an opportunity, the Better Business Bureau's Taylor said.
"The challenge is they can't do anything until they get the money," Taylor said. "The opportunity is that some people may change their minds and decide that $10 or whatever they text to him might be better used somewhere else."
Click to expand...

http://www.ksbw.com/money/22251559/detail.html

Shapecity · Jan 21, 2010

Wyclef's response

[video=youtube;lDE8YJac0Wc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDE8YJac0Wc[/video]

Shapecity · Jan 21, 2010

I read "The Smoking Gun" report "Wyclef Jean Charity's Funny Money" in full, and although the tax issues need to be dealt with, I strongly stand by Wyclef Jean. CNN Money stated, "Experts say that lackadaisical accounting is common among non-profits and is not necessarily a red flag for suspicious behavior." The worst thing the Yele Foundation did was turn tax papers in late, but these accusations that Wyclef was trying to get over on the money end are preposterous to me.

I had a discussion on Facebook earlier today with an FB friend about the costs that go into concerts, travel, management, administrative work, etc. That money just doesn't fly out of thin air, and if someone is donating to the cause, they're donating to all of that. And just being realistic here, how much did you hear about donations to Haiti from any other artist or even news programs before last week outside of Wyclef? When selfish people like Bill Maher could've cared as much about Haiti before the earthquake as he does now, Wyclef Jean was still spending time improving the economic situation in Haiti. Even the music artists who are donating now weren't thinking about Haiti before it became the "in" event to donate to while Wyclef was.

For as long as I've been a fan of his work, before the Fugees and after, he has always asked people to support Haiti and talked about their economic issues. He's been performing and raising money way before it was the "in" thing to do and has been far more focused on Haiti than other charitable organizations. And he was definitely covering Haitian issues before earthquake last Tuesday.

So when Wyclef finally responded to the accusations that he was using the business as a way to profit, all I kept thinking was "Finally!"

So what do you think? Is Wyclef Jean being honest?
Click to expand...

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/mes...-accusations-about-yele-haiti-foundation.html

Colonel Ronan · Jan 21, 2010

What a douche.

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Wyclef Jean Under Investigation for His Charity

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