Wyclef Jean, the hip-hop artist and former candidate for the presidency of Haiti, says he is committed to ensuring that things are made right, following news of a criminal investigation into the finances of his personal charity. Jean’s Haitian aid organization, Yele, went out of business in August, leaving a trail of unpaid debts. US investigators are now attempting to establish how the non-profit organization spent US$16 million in public donations in just over two years. In one mysterious transaction, the singer’s brother-in-law was given US$600,000 for helping with the “rebuilding of Haiti”. Investigators have also established that Jean was paid US$100,000 by Yele to perform at a fundraiser in Monaco. Another US$125,000 was used to transport him to interviews for an episode of the TV show 60 Minutes. Prosecutors have offered Jean a plea deal in which he would pay US$600,000 in restitution to “remedy the waste of the foundation’s assets” between 2004 and 2009, and agree to a full audit of its post-earthquake expenditure. The singer has refused the deal.
Leave a Reply