Pioneer Press, Fort Jones, CA, Wednesday, March
20, 2002
Page A1, Column 2
By Daniel Webster
ETNA – Denmark's largest media made their way to Etna this weekend to find out
why an international organization worth hundreds of millions has chosen to
settle in our community.
The organization, known colloquially in Denmark as Tvind, was founded by Mogens
Amdi Pedersen in the early 1970s as a folk school and Pedersen was known as a
folk hero.
According to Allan Silberbrandt, Washington Bureau Chief for TV2, Denmark's
largest television news station, Pedersen was fired from his job as a school
teacher for having long hair. He then started his non-traditional high
school and became a hero of sorts for those not happy with the establishment at
the time.
His followers, those involved in his Teacher's Group, dedicated their hearts to
his non-traditional schools which would send young people around the world to do
humanitarian works.
As their dedication and numbers grew, so did the organization's bank account and
holdings around the world.
The small school grew into an international network of institutions and
corporations, including factories, plantations, farms, shops, recycling
organizations and other various enterprises and real estate holdings in more
than 55 countries, according to a "case summary" filed by Danish
authorities.
On April 25, 2001 Danish authorities raided eight of the organization's offices
in Denmark and seized documents and 70 computers. In addition they
obtained documentation from other parties, including Citibank in Miami.
They charged four people with embezzlement and tax fraud, including the founder
Pedersen, who had been outside of the public's purview for approximately two
decades.
According to the Chief Constable in Holstebro, the Teacher Group is based on
three basic principles: Collective economy, collective time and collective
distribution.
"Collective economy" means, as a basic premise, that the teachers
transfer all of their available income to joint savings, while they receive
food, lodging and pocket money from the community.
"Collective time" refers to the notion that members of the Teachers
Group are available to the organization and to some extent forgo their personal
rights, such as the right to start a family if they wish.
"Collective distribution" means that the community decides where the
members are to work and what they are to work with. In practice, according
to the authorities, this is decided for them by the "Distribution
Group" otherwise known as the founder Pedersen and his girlfriend Kirsten
Larsen or the individuals appointed by them.
In 1992, Pedersen organized the group's collective treasury into a network of
bank accounts, owned by companies located in tax havens.
In documents obtained by the Danish police, Pedersen states in a letter dated
June 22, 1995 that "the funds are placed so that at any time they are
available to us, that they are never available to others, that they are
protected from theft, taxation, and prying by unauthorized persons, that the
joint ownership is ensured" and to "lay down a twisted access path
with only ourselves as compass holders."
Two of the individuals who reappear as those who sign for and have control over
numerous different corporations for the organization are Anne Hansen, part of
the upper management just below Pedersen, and Christie Pipps, whose real name is
Kirsten Fuglsbjerg, the senior legal advisor for the organization.
Pipps and Hansen were the two individuals who signed the deed of trust for the
old Forest Service building in Etna, which houses Campus California TG.
The property is owned by A-S Properties LTD, a Delaware corporation.
Hansen is named in nearly every trust and corporation controlled by Pedersen's
Tvind organization and Pipps (AKA Fuglsbjerg) controls the administration of
many of the foundations.
One of its more controversial projects was the organization's purchase of
a 217,000 acre plantation in the Brazilian rainforest for $9,250,000 from Shell,
as a "unique nature protection project". The project is called Floryl
Florestadora YPE.
After purchasing the property, the organization began to clear-cut the
rainforest according to Dagens Nyheter a publication in Sweden.
"Floryl hasn't planted one single tree on the enormous expanse they are
plundering." it reported.
In a September 2000 letter, Pedersen instructs that the goal is to "cut and
sell the trees." The sale of wood is partly through the
organization's company One World Enterprise, which exports wood for furniture
production in China, the Danish authorities allege.
One of the other programs for the organization is "Total Control of the
Epidemic" or TCE, Tvind's anti-AIDS program in Africa.
It is one of the programs the individuals trained at Campus California in Etna
are involved with when they go to Africa.
The goal is to educate Africans about the disease and help them to be able to
combat it by teaching them how to stop the spread of the epidemic.
Bobby Williamson, a young man from Southern California who has been with the
organization for five years, spoke with the Pioneer Press about his planned trip
to Botswana in May or June to help combat the AIDS epidemic.
The individuals at Campus California pay approximately $4,000 to attend the
program and are required as part of their education to actively raise additional
funds. According to Ruth Ford, one of the leaders in Etna, their
fundraising is done in cities such as Seattle, San Francisco and San Diego.
Locally, those involved with Campus California live in a very austere manner.
Tomas Lindstrom, the other local leader, spoke of turning off the hot water
heater at the facilities so that they can save $200 per month on their power
bill. He said that they boil hot water to do their dishes.
Yet, the Danish police allege that at least $270,000 has been paid by the
humanitarian foundation Humana People to People to Amdi Pedersen personally
under the pretext that it was to "fight against AIDS in Africa".
But that's just a drop in the bucket.
After 22 years of hiding from everyone but the closest Tvind insiders, Amdi
Pedersen's whereabouts were discovered by Jyllands-Posten, Denmark's largest
daily newspaper.
He was found living in 2001 in a $6 million, 9,000 square foot flat on Florida's
Fisher Island. He was comfortably situated in the 10th floor penthouse.
However a major problem arose with his living situation, Jyllands-Posten
reports. According to the club rules, residents were only allowed to
have one dog per flat. Pedersen has two Leonbergers.
That problem was solved in 2000 when Tvind bought another 9,000 sq. ft. flat
five floors down so that the formalities of having two dogs could be solved.
Tomas, at Campus California, doesn't consider the extravagant Fisher Island flat
to be a problem. He told Denmark's TV2 during his interview on Sunday,
that he believes it was a good investment by the organization.
Morgens Amdi Pedersen, shows a personal income of approximately $10,000 per
year, according to individuals in the Danish media.
Pedersen was picked up by U.S. authorities at LAX last month on an international
warrant for his arrest. He is currently being held in Kern County, where
he is awaiting his extradition hearing in federal court.
The U.S. magistrate denied his release on bail even though his attorney, Robert
L. Shapiro, of O.J. Simpson fame, pleaded for his release on $1 million bail.
A status conference is scheduled for next Tuesday.
The Danish media, who have been following Pedersen and his vast Tvind
organization for decades are eating it up and while they are in Southern
California awaiting his hearing are making their way to Etna to find out what
the U.S. connection is all about.
Allan Silberbrandt, of Denmark's TV2, interviewed different folks in Etna while
he was in town.
So why are the Danes so upset over Pedersen? He was their hero and he let
them down.
The clip from the Danish nightly news can be found this week on its website at: www.tv2.dk