It's been nearly two years since a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, and as that two-year anniversary approaches, the country is still just starting to rebuild and its people are struggling to get basic necessities.
Now, for a second time, the charity that hip-hop star Wyclef Jean helped create is facing questions about how it spent funds raised for the country.
On Sunday, The New York Post reported that Yele Haiti squandered much of the $16 million is collected in 2010 on questionable contracts. The paper said only a third of the money raised went to relief efforts following the earthquake.
The Post goes on to accuse the charity of paying a million dollars to a company with a Miami address for which it claims "no trace" could be found.
In a statement to AllHipHop.com, Jean fights back, calling the report "misleading, deceptive and incomplete." Jean claims that Yele was forced to make quick decisions in response to the catastrophic natural disaster, adding "since Yele launched six years ago we have helped close to half a million people."
Former Yele President Hugh Locke told the Miami Herald that the company in question, Amisphere Farm Labor, Inc., provided about 100,000 hot meals to Haiti when no one else could. He added that the owner of the firm, Amsterly Pierre, used an existing and inactive company under his name, to receive payment from Yele "because Haiti’s banks were not functioning at the time."
In 2010 Jean faced allegations that he had used charity funds for his personal benefit. A teary Jean defended the charity's reputation in a press conference saying
"Have we made mistakes before? Yes. Did I ever use Yele money for personal benefits? Absolutely not."
Jean is no longer on the board of Yele Haiti. The charity has been under new leadership since his failed presidential run in that country.
Jean told AllHipHop.com, that he'd transitioned from being "a board member and chairman of Yele Haiti to a supporter."
"Yele, under new leadership, despite efforts to undermine its credibility and effectiveness, continues its mission to serve people in need," he said.
