Yéle Haiti

In 2001, musician Wyclef Jean established "Yéle Haiti" a charitable organization known legally as the Wyclef Jean Foundation and incorporated in Illinois. The foundation became active in the aftermath of 2004's Hurricane Jeanne, when it provided scholarships to 3,600 children in Gonaïves, Haiti, with funding from Comcel. It continued to provide scholarships, school funding, meals and other charitable benefits to citizens of Haiti in the following years. The foundation, named with a word coined by Jean meaning "cry for freedom", achieved a higher profile and a great deal of funding in the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake that devastated Haiti and its capital Port-au-Prince. According to Jean, Yéle raised over $1 million in 24 hours using a plea on Twitter and more through Jean's participation in an MTV donation drive and other publicity efforts to benefit survivors of the earthquake. Together with George Clooney, Jean organized the "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon. It was the most watched telethon to date in history, and aired on almost every network and many cable channels. Jean gave the last performance of the telethon, and performed a medley of songs that ended with Haiti's traditional Rara music. Following the earthquake, the Yéle organization donated funds to orphanages, street cleaning crews, hospitals and medical clinics and organized food service to provide hot meals to refugees and victims of the catastrophe.

Not long after the earthquake and Jean's heavily publicized efforts to raise money for disaster relief, questions were raised about the history and management of the Yéle charity. A New York Times article, working from an investigation performed by the Smoking Gun website, reported that the Wyclef Jean Foundation failed to file required tax returns for 2005, 2006 and 2007 until 2009, and that by early 2010, returns and records for 2008 had still not been filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The article, which included allegations by the Smoking Gun of mismanagement of funds, also reported criticism of the foundation by its former executive director, Sanjay Rawal, questioning its ability to handle large projects and its lack of financial controls.

Between 2005 and 2012, Yéle Haiti has been managed by Rawal, co-founder and former chief executive Hugh Locke, Wyclef Jean (until he announced his candidacy in August 2010 for the presidency of Haiti) and former chief executive Derek Q. Johnson. In August 2012, Johnson resigned from his position and announced the closure of the charity, saying in a statement to supporters "As the foundation’s sole remaining employee, my decision implies the closure of the organization as a whole." Johnson's resignation also came in the wake of an investigation by the New York attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, and the failure of settlement talks between the attorney general's office and the charity over allegations of mismanagement - including improper payments by the charity to Jean, members of his family and others connected to Jean. A forensic audit conducted by Schneiderman's office also disclosed that in 2010, the year of the earthquake in Haiti, the organization had spent over $9 million - half of it on travel alone. The charity, which remains closed, is also the target of lawsuits in Haiti for unpaid debts.

External links

• Official website