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Country profiles
The 'Money Machine'
How much is Tvind worth?
Danish police put
Tvind's overall assets worldwide in cash, property and ships at hundreds of millions of
pounds. In 1995, its worldwide turnover was £83 million.
On Amdi Petersen's arrest in 2002, the value of Tvind property in the US
was estimated at £10 million, in
Denmark at £22 million and in central and south America
at £27 million. [Source: Danish
police evidence (PDF file)].
What are the main sources of Tvind income?
Tvind collects used garments
for free from the public and sells them, at a profit, in Europe,
America and Eastern Europe. It even sells them to the poor in
Africa. It does not give the clothes away.
Second hand clothing can be a remarkably lucrative trade, especially
when the material comes at no cost and much of the work is done by
volunteers. Behind the 'charities' known as UFF, Humana,
Planet Aid, U'SAgain, Green World and Gaia is a huge
network of import-export companies controlled by members of the Teachers
Group and spanning the world.
Members of the Teachers'
Group become businessmen, opening up profitable trading ventures
in land, clothes, food, computers, import-export etc. Many are based in
tax havens such as the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar. the Isle of Man, the
Channel Islands and Belize. Full
list of Tvind companies.
Trainee Development
Instructors are told they have to pay their way through college
and into Africa - they are sent on to the streets in
Scandinavia and the United States, selling postcards or brochures to
passers by. Volunteers are given unrealistically high
targets and constantly chided not to fail. The
money raised in this way is in addition to advance course fees of
around £2,000. Many volunteers say the money they raised
disappeared into Tvind coffers and was not used for aid in Africa.
Thousands of paying pupils
and college students in
dozens of schools all over the world.
The schools have been dubbed 'a Tvind money machine'.
Solidarity workers in Europe and the USA pay up front and even in
Africa, students pay school fees. In Denmark, the Government once
paid a percentage of Tvind teachers' salaries by law and even now local authorities choose to pay
Tvind to educate difficult children. Volunteer
teachers have reported all sorts of scams designed to raise even more
- false documentation, teachers being registered at
more than one school, and so on.
State support and sponsors
Tvind is constantly asking
for money to support its 'charity work', without disclosing its revenue
from commercial ventures. It constantly applies -
successfully - to embassies, governments, charitable trusts
and development agencies such as SIDA and DANIDA. Among the
businesses which give millions of dollars are multinational oil
companies such as BP-Amoco, Chevron and Citizens Energy.
Tvind
makes money by getting young people to work for nothing -
or very little - in its clothes shops, sorting
centres, as drivers, as location scouts, in its schools, and as
Development Instructors abroad. Where people are paid,
they are often required to work very long days and told they are letting
the side down if they refuse. NetUp
is one Tvind scheme to persuade young volunteers to work for nothing.
Over 30 years hundreds of
members of the Teachers Group have donated millions of pounds by making
over earnings and property to Tvind. In some cases the money comes
straight from salaries paid by outside bodies, which are moved directly
into Tvind coffers - the teachers work for almost nothing.
If they leave, they get no money back
Money quietly invested in
fruit farms and plantations in Belize, Ecuador, Brazil, Fiji and
elsewhere makes a handsome return. 'Aid projects' in Zimbabwe and
other Third World countries are often thinly disguised farming ventures
on land Tvind itself owns.
Since the 'salaries' paid to
TG members are just theoretical, all sorts of creative accountancy
becomes possible, provided someone is prepared to sign that they have
'received' the money. It could go into a Swiss bank account... Here
is one example of how this can be used. Another
was revealed by a Danish television programme in 2000.
Wherever it plants a so-called 'project', the first thing the Teachers Group does is apply for funding from other charities such as Save the Children or Unicef. . Sometimes it gets money and credibility. But how is the money used? Is there double funding? Does it always present an accurate picture. Payments by oil companies
One thing almost everybody connected with Tvind agrees on is that Tvind is extremely interested in money. But for whom?
What is the money
spent on?
Some of this huge ocean of money may go to support aid projects, but with the boundaries between charity and commerce hopelessly blurred and little financial transparency, there is no knowing how much.
Many people believe the 'aid projects' abroad are only window-dressing and that Tvind's real billions are stashed away in tax havens, invested in profitable land deals and property, or used to finance commerce. If so, this represents one of the greatest frauds on the developing world ever perpetrated.
There is good evidence that at least $10m was used to buy two luxury apartments in Florida and a luxury yacht, the Butterfly McQueen. Yet more millions were spent on the Floresta Jatoba plantation in the Brazilian rainforest, which is known to be a commercial ranch, but is often portrayed by Tvind as an 'environmental project'. This is at the heart of the $25m fraud case currently under way against Amdi Petersen.
What's all this about tax evasion?
One of the principal charges made by the Danish police is that Amdi Petersen sanctioned money to be spent on 'environmental projects' knowing there was no actual charity work involved - the illusion was maintained that the money was for charity and it escaped tax, but in fact it was used for other purposes.
Others have claimed that Tvind also uses the high (but often non-existent) 'salaries' of the Teachers Group to evade tax, by giving the impression the money is spent abroad - when in reality most stays within the organisation. In 1990, the Swedish development agency SIDA commissioned the Valdelin Report on UFF which found that Tvind operated an internal money-go-round: only 2% ever left the organisation.
How does Tvind do it?
Tvind's secret is to recycle the money within the organsation rather than spend it outside. The result is a 'Tvind economy' by which Tvind 'pays itself' for goods, services and labour, at prices that it sets itself - often at an advantageous tax benefit.
What are the Tvind foundations?
Faelleseje ('Common Fund')
Estate
Thomas Brocklebank
The Humanitarian Fund
The Farmers Trust
IFAS - Institute for
Scientific Research and Applied Sciences
March 2002:
The Danish authorities have informed the board of the three
principal, commercial Tvind-foundations (Faelleseje, Estate and Thomas
Brocklebank) that they are no longer allowed to decide over the money in
the funds (approximately £50 million - mostly tied up in
40-50 buildings and ships). This is the first step in the
authorities (Erhvervs- og Selskabsstyrelsens) planned investigation of
the three foundations. They suspect the three foundations have done the
same as the Humanitarian Foundation - directed by a man, who is not a
member of the board of the foundations: Mogens Amdi Petersen. An
independent attorney investigation of the foundations will be finished
before the end of this year. Until then the board of the foundations
must ask for permission, if they want to use some of the money.
Where has the money come from?
Members of the Teachers Group have been paying their 'salaries' into Tvind's coffers for more than 30 years. Tvind receives money in public donations, subsidies and government hand-outs, as well as grants from other NGOs. There is a huge profit from the sale of used clothes. Local authorities pay school fees for emotionally disturbed children. Would-be volunteers pay college fees in advance and go out collecting in the streets. Tvind makes money from commercial enterprises in China and the Third World and profits from aggressively-farmed plantations in the Caribbean and central America, and farms in Africa. Finally, it receives millions of dollars in covert payments from multinational oil companies, because of its close connections with the government in Angola.
| Some
useful links:
Danish TV says Tvind guilty of at least $7m tax evasion Police raid on Tvind for 'tax evasion' Humana France closed down for tax evasion "It's all about profit" - Henning Bjornlund
|
How much is Tvind worth?
Danish police put
Tvind's overall assets worldwide in cash, property and ships at hundreds of millions of
pounds. In 1995, its worldwide turnover was £83 million.
On Amdi Petersen's arrest in 2002, the value of Tvind property in the US
was estimated at £10 million, in
Denmark at £22 million and in central and south America
at £27 million. [Source: Danish
police evidence (PDF file)].
What are the main sources of Tvind income?
Tvind collects used garments
for free from the public and sells them, at a profit, in Europe,
America and Eastern Europe. It even sells them to the poor in
Africa. It does not give the clothes away.
Second hand clothing can be a remarkably lucrative trade, especially
when the material comes at no cost and much of the work is done by
volunteers. Behind the 'charities' known as UFF, Humana,
Planet Aid, U'SAgain, Green World and Gaia is a huge
network of import-export companies controlled by members of the Teachers
Group and spanning the world.
Members of the Teachers'
Group become businessmen, opening up profitable trading ventures
in land, clothes, food, computers, import-export etc. Many are based in
tax havens such as the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar. the Isle of Man, the
Channel Islands and Belize. Full
list of Tvind companies.
Trainee Development
Instructors are told they have to pay their way through college
and into Africa - they are sent on to the streets in
Scandinavia and the United States, selling postcards or brochures to
passers by. Volunteers are given unrealistically high
targets and constantly chided not to fail. The
money raised in this way is in addition to advance course fees of
around £2,000. Many volunteers say the money they raised
disappeared into Tvind coffers and was not used for aid in Africa.
Thousands of paying pupils
and college students in
dozens of schools all over the world.
The schools have been dubbed 'a Tvind money machine'.
Solidarity workers in Europe and the USA pay up front and even in
Africa, students pay school fees. In Denmark, the Government once
paid a percentage of Tvind teachers' salaries by law and even now local authorities choose to pay
Tvind to educate difficult children. Volunteer
teachers have reported all sorts of scams designed to raise even more
- false documentation, teachers being registered at
more than one school, and so on.
State support and sponsors
Tvind is constantly asking
for money to support its 'charity work', without disclosing its revenue
from commercial ventures. It constantly applies -
successfully - to embassies, governments, charitable trusts
and development agencies such as SIDA and DANIDA. Among the
businesses which give millions of dollars are multinational oil
companies such as BP-Amoco, Chevron and Citizens Energy.
Tvind
makes money by getting young people to work for nothing -
or very little - in its clothes shops, sorting
centres, as drivers, as location scouts, in its schools, and as
Development Instructors abroad. Where people are paid,
they are often required to work very long days and told they are letting
the side down if they refuse. NetUp
is one Tvind scheme to persuade young volunteers to work for nothing.
Over 30 years hundreds of
members of the Teachers Group have donated millions of pounds by making
over earnings and property to Tvind. In some cases the money comes
straight from salaries paid by outside bodies, which are moved directly
into Tvind coffers - the teachers work for almost nothing.
If they leave, they get no money back
Money quietly invested in
fruit farms and plantations in Belize, Ecuador, Brazil, Fiji and
elsewhere makes a handsome return. 'Aid projects' in Zimbabwe and
other Third World countries are often thinly disguised farming ventures
on land Tvind itself owns.
Since the 'salaries' paid to
TG members are just theoretical, all sorts of creative accountancy
becomes possible, provided someone is prepared to sign that they have
'received' the money. It could go into a Swiss bank account... Here
is one example of how this can be used. Another
was revealed by a Danish television programme in 2000.
Wherever it plants a so-called 'project', the first thing the Teachers Group does is apply for funding from other charities such as Save the Children or Unicef. . Sometimes it gets money and credibility. But how is the money used? Is there double funding? Does it always present an accurate picture. Payments by oil companies
One thing almost everybody connected with Tvind agrees on is that Tvind is extremely interested in money. But for whom?
What is the money
spent on?
Some of this huge ocean of money may go to support aid projects, but with the boundaries between charity and commerce hopelessly blurred and little financial transparency, there is no knowing how much.
Many people believe the 'aid projects' abroad are only window-dressing and that Tvind's real billions are stashed away in tax havens, invested in profitable land deals and property, or used to finance commerce. If so, this represents one of the greatest frauds on the developing world ever perpetrated.
There is good evidence that at least $10m was used to buy two luxury apartments in Florida and a luxury yacht, the Butterfly McQueen. Yet more millions were spent on the Floresta Jatoba plantation in the Brazilian rainforest, which is known to be a commercial ranch, but is often portrayed by Tvind as an 'environmental project'. This is at the heart of the $25m fraud case currently under way against Amdi Petersen.
What's all this about tax evasion?
One of the principal charges made by the Danish police is that Amdi Petersen sanctioned money to be spent on 'environmental projects' knowing there was no actual charity work involved - the illusion was maintained that the money was for charity and it escaped tax, but in fact it was used for other purposes.
Others have claimed that Tvind also uses the high (but often non-existent) 'salaries' of the Teachers Group to evade tax, by giving the impression the money is spent abroad - when in reality most stays within the organisation. In 1990, the Swedish development agency SIDA commissioned the Valdelin Report on UFF which found that Tvind operated an internal money-go-round: only 2% ever left the organisation.
How does Tvind do it?
Tvind's secret is to recycle the money within the organsation rather than spend it outside. The result is a 'Tvind economy' by which Tvind 'pays itself' for goods, services and labour, at prices that it sets itself - often at an advantageous tax benefit.
What are the Tvind foundations?
Faelleseje ('Common Fund')
Estate
Thomas Brocklebank
The Humanitarian Fund
The Farmers Trust
IFAS - Institute for
Scientific Research and Applied Sciences
March 2002:
The Danish authorities have informed the board of the three
principal, commercial Tvind-foundations (Faelleseje, Estate and Thomas
Brocklebank) that they are no longer allowed to decide over the money in
the funds (approximately £50 million - mostly tied up in
40-50 buildings and ships). This is the first step in the
authorities (Erhvervs- og Selskabsstyrelsens) planned investigation of
the three foundations. They suspect the three foundations have done the
same as the Humanitarian Foundation - directed by a man, who is not a
member of the board of the foundations: Mogens Amdi Petersen. An
independent attorney investigation of the foundations will be finished
before the end of this year. Until then the board of the foundations
must ask for permission, if they want to use some of the money.
Where has the money come from?
Members of the Teachers Group have been paying their 'salaries' into Tvind's coffers for more than 30 years. Tvind receives money in public donations, subsidies and government hand-outs, as well as grants from other NGOs. There is a huge profit from the sale of used clothes. Local authorities pay school fees for emotionally disturbed children. Would-be volunteers pay college fees in advance and go out collecting in the streets. Tvind makes money from commercial enterprises in China and the Third World and profits from aggressively-farmed plantations in the Caribbean and central America, and farms in Africa. Finally, it receives millions of dollars in covert payments from multinational oil companies, because of its close connections with the government in Angola.
| Some
useful links:
Danish TV says Tvind guilty of at least $7m tax evasion Police raid on Tvind for 'tax evasion' Humana France closed down for tax evasion "It's all about profit" - Henning Bjornlund
|
One thing almost everybody connected with Tvind agrees on is that Tvind is extremely interested in money. But for whom?
What is the money spent on?
Some of this huge ocean of money may go to support aid projects, but with the boundaries between charity and commerce hopelessly blurred and little financial transparency, there is no knowing how much.
Many people believe the 'aid projects' abroad are only window-dressing and that Tvind's real billions are stashed away in tax havens, invested in profitable land deals and property, or used to finance commerce. If so, this represents one of the greatest frauds on the developing world ever perpetrated.
There is good evidence that at least $10m was used to buy two luxury apartments in Florida and a luxury yacht, the Butterfly McQueen. Yet more millions were spent on the Floresta Jatoba plantation in the Brazilian rainforest, which is known to be a commercial ranch, but is often portrayed by Tvind as an 'environmental project'. This is at the heart of the $25m fraud case currently under way against Amdi Petersen.
What's all this about tax evasion?
One of the principal charges made by the Danish police is that Amdi Petersen sanctioned money to be spent on 'environmental projects' knowing there was no actual charity work involved - the illusion was maintained that the money was for charity and it escaped tax, but in fact it was used for other purposes.
Others have claimed that Tvind also uses the high (but often non-existent) 'salaries' of the Teachers Group to evade tax, by giving the impression the money is spent abroad - when in reality most stays within the organisation. In 1990, the Swedish development agency SIDA commissioned the Valdelin Report on UFF which found that Tvind operated an internal money-go-round: only 2% ever left the organisation.
How does Tvind do it?
Tvind's secret is to recycle the money within the organsation rather than spend it outside. The result is a 'Tvind economy' by which Tvind 'pays itself' for goods, services and labour, at prices that it sets itself - often at an advantageous tax benefit.
What are the Tvind foundations?
Faelleseje ('Common Fund')
Thomas Brocklebank
The Humanitarian Fund
The Farmers Trust
IFAS - Institute for
Scientific Research and Applied Sciences
March 2002:
The Danish authorities have informed the board of the three
principal, commercial Tvind-foundations (Faelleseje, Estate and Thomas
Brocklebank) that they are no longer allowed to decide over the money in
the funds (approximately £50 million - mostly tied up in
40-50 buildings and ships). This is the first step in the
authorities (Erhvervs- og Selskabsstyrelsens) planned investigation of
the three foundations. They suspect the three foundations have done the
same as the Humanitarian Foundation - directed by a man, who is not a
member of the board of the foundations: Mogens Amdi Petersen. An
independent attorney investigation of the foundations will be finished
before the end of this year. Until then the board of the foundations
must ask for permission, if they want to use some of the money.
Where has the money come from?
Members of the Teachers Group have been paying their 'salaries' into Tvind's coffers for more than 30 years. Tvind receives money in public donations, subsidies and government hand-outs, as well as grants from other NGOs. There is a huge profit from the sale of used clothes. Local authorities pay school fees for emotionally disturbed children. Would-be volunteers pay college fees in advance and go out collecting in the streets. Tvind makes money from commercial enterprises in China and the Third World and profits from aggressively-farmed plantations in the Caribbean and central America, and farms in Africa. Finally, it receives millions of dollars in covert payments from multinational oil companies, because of its close connections with the government in Angola.
Danish TV says Tvind guilty of at least $7m tax evasion
Police raid on Tvind for 'tax evasion'
Humana France closed down for tax evasion
"It's all about profit" - Henning Bjornlund
Auditors report
says only 2 per cent of the charity's money is ever given away
Oil revenues boost Tvind coffers
Major oil companies sponsor DAPP in return for Angola government oil concessions.
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© 2002, 2003 Tvind Alert, All Rights Reserved
Permission
is granted to reproduce the materials posted here provided that they are
credited as "Source: Tvind Alert (http://www.tvindalert.com)"