Wyclef Jean denies 'squandering' Haiti aid

Wyclef Jean greets supporters as a Haiti Presidential candidate in Port-au-Prince last year (AP)

Wyclef Jean, the hip-hop musician, relief worker, and one-time Haitian presidential candidate, has robustly defended his personal charity against allegations of misspending millions of dollars that were donated to it in the aftermath of last year's earthquake.

The singer said that a New York Post article questioning what it called the "dubious" finances of his aid agency, Yele, is "misleading, deceptive, and incomplete". Regarding suggestions that the organisation "squandered" its resources, he insisted "nothing could be further from the truth".

Mr Jean, pictured, who was born in Haiti and achieved fame in the mid-1990s with The Fugees, was responding to a report which revealed that just under a third of the $16m that Yele raised following the 2010 disaster has so far been spent on emergency relief.

Citing recent tax filings, the Post claimed that in 2010 the charity paid $350,000 to a construction company run by Jean's brother-in-law, Warnel Pierre. Another $1m was paid to a Florida-based firm called Amisphere Farm Labor, owned by one Amsterly Pierre, which does not appear to currently exist.

Mr Jean insisted that both companies carried out legitimate work. The construction firm built an orphanage and sanitary facilities in Cite Soleil, one of the biggest slums in Port-au-Prince. Amisphere meanwhile prepared and delivered roughly 100,000 meals to victims of the earthquake.