November 28, 2011 19:00

Wyclef Jean defends Haiti charity after spending scandal

Claims that only a third of the money raised was used to help after the Haitian earthquake were made

Photo: PA

Wyclef Jean has leapt to the defence off the Yele Haiti Foundation charity after claims that only $5.1 million (£3.28 million) of the total $16 million (£10.29 million) it raised went to help the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake.

Jean told the Associated Press that his charity built an orphanage and toilet and shower blocks in a shanty town in Port-au-Prince and that he is proud of the work Yele did.

This follows reports that of the money raised, $353,983 (£227,715) went to a contracting company run by Jean's brother-in-law and $1 million (£643,294) went to Amisphere Farm Labor Inc. a "food distributor" which, according to the New York Post via Billboard, "does not seem to exist". Despite this, the person who heads up the fictitious company recently purchased three properties in Florida.

The charity was created by Wyclef Jean in 2005. He and a large part of the board of the charity left the company in 2010, reports Billboard.

Earlier this year, the rapper claimed he was shot in Haiti and said he received treatment for a gunshot wound to the hand, but a policeman later claimed this was incorrect and that he merely cut himself.

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