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Jan 20
2010

Oprah puts out “CFO wanted” sign for Wyclef Jean

Posted by MQuinn in Wyclef JeanOprah WinfreyIRSfinancescharityCFOcareer

MQuinn

Want to work for a Grammy winning pop star and earn big brownie points with Oprah Winfrey? Well, do we have the job for you.

On Wednesday, in promotion of her show that day, Oprah, or whoever handles such things for her, wrote on her Twitter page: "Wyclef will do great things for Haiti once he gets the right CFO." (hat tip to People.com)

The tweet is referring, of course, to Wyclef Jean, the rapper and musician, who is also Haitian-American.

Jean has recently found himself at the center of controversy because of his charitable foundation, Yele Haiti, which has seen substantial funds poured into it in the aftermath of the earthquakes that have devastated the Caribbean country.

Web site, The Smoking Gun, started poking around the IRS returns of the foundation and uncovered some dubious financial practices. The site claims the records "show the group has a lackluster history of accounting for its finances, and that the organization has paid the performer and his business partner at least $410,000 for rent, production services, and Jean's appearance at a benefit concert."

Wyclef has since taken to his blog and held a press conference to defend himself and the charity. 

Hugh Locke, a consultant who was identified as president of the Yele Haiti Foundation, acknowledged at the press conference that the years-late filing of the charity's tax returns was a "mistake," according to a follow-up post from The Smoking Gun. He added that the payment of $100,000 to a firm owned by Jean and a relative "was not our finest hour" and promised that the group would be "more appropriate" in the future.

Presumably that's where the aforementioned "right CFO" comes in. So, if you're interested, be sure to tune in to Oprah. That is if you weren't going to already.

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