The New York Post reported exclusively that Yele Haiti, the nonprofit Jean founded with Jerry Duplessis in 2005, spent just $5.1 million of its $16 million on earthquake relief efforts. The Post also alleged that the organization solicited questionable agencies to carry out its work and $1 million was paid to a Florida firm that doesn’t seem to exist.
The earthquake killed between 200,000 and 300,000 Haitians and left a million homeless. The country is still in the grip of a cholera epidemic.
For all the desperation, records show that Yele Haiti spent just $5.1 million for emergency relief efforts, including food and water delivery to makeshift survivor camps, according to a review of the charity’s 2010 tax filings, which were obtained by The Post.
Yele Haiti paid five contractors to accomplish its goals, including P&A Construction — which received $353,983 and is run by Warnel Pierre, the brother of Jean’s wife, Claudinette.
A purported Miami business called Amisphere Farm Labor Inc. received a whopping $1,008,000 as a “food distributor.”
No trace of the company could be found last week in the Sunshine State, but records show the company’s head, Amsterly Pierre, bought three properties in Florida last year, including a condo in an upscale waterfront community.
Clef said in a statement Sunday that the allegations are unfounded and that his charity rebuilt an orphanage and provided food and shelter to 250,000 people in need.
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