Wyclef Jean Yele Haiti Foundation Sued Again, For Over $100,000
Yele Haiti foundation, the charity started by Wyclef Jean, is being sued for $108,972 following claims that they own money to a partner company.
I=HVS Global Hospitality Services filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court against the now defunct charity started by Jean in 2005, according to a Wednesday report. The suit claimed that they gave job training to Haitians in 2011 per the charity's request, but Jean and the organization never paid in full for the services. Yele Haiti also ignored all attempts to pay what they owed, according to court documents.
HVA asekd the courts to recoup the initial payments it never received, plus interest lost on the amount since April 20, 2012. The company also wants Yele Haiti to pay its attorney fees.
HVS is just one of many creditors that have come after Yele Haiti, which closed in October 2012. The decision to close its doors came months after allegations that Jean misappropriated funds for the charity. According to The New York Times, auditors zeroed in on $3 million of the organization's expenses from 2005 to 2009. The auditors declared that $256,580 was used for illegal benefits and improper transactions, such as private air transportation and chauffeur services.
In Jean's 2012 memoir, Purpose: An Immigrant's Story, he said he felt crucified by the criticisms. He later expanded on what he was feeling in an interview with MTV News.
"When you start an organization, there are gonna be mistakes, but the mistakes were never us banking money in our pockets to get rich on behalf of our people," he said.
He shared what he hoped Yele Haiti's legacy would ultimately be, saying he did not want the charity remembered for scandal.
"The legacy of Yele Haiti and why people trust in Yele Haiti is because it's not something I created when the earthquake came," he said. "This is something I created in 2005."
Yele Haiti raised $16 million in the aftermath of the earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010. Jean promised to use those resources to help the Caribbean nation rebuild, however, an audit found that the money could not be accounted for.
Many of the people who depended on the funds railed against Jean at the time, saying they felt betrayed.
"If I had depended on Yéle, these kids would all be dead by now," Diaoly Estimé told the Times. He ran an orphanage that featured a wall painting of the hip hop artist.
Jean has yet commented on the latest lawsuit.
