Wyclef Jean defends Yele Haiti
Wyclef Jean in Miami upon Saturday sharpened his Haiti Relief Fund message.By CNNMoney.com staffJanuary 17, 2010: 2:06 PM ETNEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Celebrity musician Wyclef Jean laid open charges which he wasted funds from his charity, Yele Haiti, as well as shielded a substructure as well as his joining to Haiti service efforts.
"Let me be clear: I denounce any allegation which I have ever profited personally by my work with Yele Haiti," Jean pronounced in a statement released Saturday. "These baseless attacks have been simply not true."
Allegations which flush progressing upon TheSmokingGun.com claimed a Haitian-born swat star was regulating income lifted by a substructure to fund projects similar to his prolongation company, recording college of music as well as a live performance, for his personal gain.
According to a 2006 tax filing posted upon The Smoking Gun, more than a third of a foundation's total income went to such miscellaneous expenses.
Thebiggest was a $250,000 remuneration to Telemax, a television prolongation company owned by Jean as well as associate Yele board part of Jerry Duplessis. Others listed by The Smoking Gun were $31,000 in rent payments for Platinum Sound -- a Manhattan recording college of music owned by Jean as well as Duplessis -- as well as $100,000 in remuneration for Jean to perform during a good concert.
Jean energetically shielded himself in a YouTube video posted Saturday.
"After digging kids up as well as finding cemeteries for them ... this is what I come back to, an attack upon my firmness as well as my foundation," Jean pronounced in a video.
He went upon to explain which a charges were commercial operation losses for Yele Haiti's fundraising efforts. "You can't put a show together but a production. You need lights, you need a theatre ... All of these things have to be accounted for," he said.
Most charities allot a apportionment of their revenues toward operating expenses.
Charity Navigator, an classification which evaluates charities, says which a many fit charities put during slightest 75% toward programs related to their cause. Charity Navigator does not rate Yele Haiti, but reviewed a group's tax audits after a liaison broke. In 2008, Yele Haiti spent 69% of the bill upon Haiti programs, according to Charity Navigator.
In his video, Jean additionally stressed which he has put $1 million of his own income into a foundation.
Since Tuesday's earthquake, Jean has been in Haiti assisting with service efforts.
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