Use of Wyclef Jean’s Haiti charity collections questioned

The Haiti-born celebrity established the charity organization in 1995 to help the people of the impoverished island lead a better life and it has come forward to help the earthquake survivors.

Reportedly, thousands of people made instant donations to the Yele Haiti Foundation by means of text messages to help the quake hit islanders.

Where does the money go?
But the analysis of the charity organization’s tax returns has attracted criticism from tax experts about how the donation money is being spent by the charity.

“It seems clear that a significant amount of the monies that this charity raises go for costs other than providing benefits to Haitians in need,” alleges Dean Zerbe, national managing director of Alliant Group, a tax services company that supervises charity organizations.

He adds, “It brings real caution for donors that want to help in Haiti that they might want to take a harder look at this organization but also consider the significant number of charities that have been doing good work in Haiti that don't have these question marks.”

According to the tax experts, the foundation collected revenue of $1 million through a fund raising concert by Wyclef Jean in 2006 and more than one third of the money was spent on making payments to related parties.

Donations used only for charity purpose, says Yele Haiti president
The president of the foundation, Hugh Locke, came forward and slammed all the financial accusations, moments after the accusations were made public.

He says, “I think people should be very comfortable that any money given to Yele Haiti is going 100 percent to emergency relief.”

“The charity provides scholarships, funds a soccer team, takes students on environmental-education camping trips and employs women to cook for schools,” he adds.

Akon supports Wyclef Jean
Popular singer Akon has backed Wyclef Jean and feels that what the critics have to say is irrelevant and what matters is that Jean is trying to do good work, especially for his native land.

Akon says, “Naturally, of course, when you have a lot on your plate, you're an entertainer and you're moving around performing and doing humanitarian acts through the world, it's gonna be hard to keep an eye on everything with your foundation.”

“Some things are gonna slip through the cracks. But I don't think that's fair to put him under the gun for things like that because at the end of the day, you know where his heart is,” he continues.

It may be noted that soon after the earthquake struck the devastated island, Wyclef Jean rushed to Haiti and messaged all his fans to help the quake victims through cash or kind.