Wylcef Jean’s Yéle Haiti Foundation Slapped With $100k Lawsuit

The charity is accused of stiffing consulting firm out of money.

By Latifah Muhammad
Posted: 05/02/2013 12:48 PM EDT
Wyclef Jean

Wyclef Jean’s Yéle Haiti foundation has some bookkeeping issues to reconcile. The ill-fated charity is the focus of a lawsuit filed by a consulting firm that never got paid.

HVC Global Hospitality Services provided job training for 120 students in May of 2011, and accused Yéle of walking out on a $108,972 bill.

The suit, filed in a Manhattan Supreme Court, alleges that Yéle agreed to pay $285,000 for a six-month hospitality training and education program in the country. Under the agreement, the foundation was to make installment payments to HVC throughout the course of the program, but Yéle never kept up with the plan.

HVC is suing for money owed, plus interest. The company also wants Yéle to cover attorney fees.

Yéle has been caught up in controversy ever since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that ravaged Haiti in 2010. Jean a native of the island nation became the face of the organization, spearheading fundraising efforts that brought in nearly $2 million for earthquake victims in one day. Cracks in the non-profits’s financials emerged amid news that the Fugees front man was receiving hefty payouts from his own foundation.

Jean maintained that the money was never used for “personal benefit,” but a forensic audit of Yéle’s finances unveiled years of delinquent tax bills, and other shifty practices.

After seven years, and $16 million raised, Yéle closed in 2012.

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(Photo: John Ricard / BET)

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