Tvind Alert
TVIND - latest developments in Portugal.
JANUARY 2004
TVIND has been active in Portugal since quite some time now, as reported in this site.
Portuguese mentality has a tradition of warmth and hospitality, which occasionally gives place to permissiveness (and which lately has allowed for some pure corruption situations in various business & political sectors). From what we have learned, activity of this organization covers all three main areas: used clothes collection, volunteer recruiting for Portuguese speaking countries, and business relations with Portuguese companies.
USED CLOTHES
This photo was taken in Alcabideche, a small village belonging to Cascais district on the way to Sintra, on the 18th January 2004. To be remarked that there is a new sticker, with a new phone number on the container.
The "hunt" for volunteers, mainly to Mozambique for alleged social work , has been very active. There is almost no week when we do not find an advert in the weekly "Expresso", main weekly newspaper in Lisbon and all Portugal.
Adverts in Expresso dated respectively 06th Dec 2003 and 07th February 2004:
Adverts in Expresso, both in same edition of February the 14th:
Testimonials from ex-volunteers may be found in: http://http://www.tvindalert.com/countries/Portugal/portugal.htm
BUSINESS RELATIONS
TVIND has been very active since about four years in selling part of their production from Floresta Jatobá in Bahia (Brazil) to a Portuguese company. The main product is pine wood small logs, which in Portugal are widely used in farm fences, all highways are also fenced with such logs, they are used as well in small garden arrangements and mostly in vineyards. Furthermore local importers also export to Spain and South France where this product is scarce, bringing this market to a higher scope than the small Portuguese market.
As in any business there is competition. Furthermore feasibility of this trade relies considerably on the transportation from Northeast Brazil to Portugal on general cargo vessels, not containers.
Until summer 2003 there was a relatively low profile from F. Jatobá and his and partners in Portugal, however the big fires in Portugal in the summer 2003 have changed the picture.
From one side, the Portuguese production of such wood vanished literally in flames, and secondly the transportation to Portugal became a bigger problem, with fewer ships and higher transportation costs.
The logs are sold by Floresta Jatobá to Mccorry , and by McCorry to Carmo, Lda, one of the local importers who has a very close relation with Jonas Israel(see c/v below).
In turn, Jonas Israel has a close relation with a Dutch ship operator Trinitas Maritime Carriers, who has been active in this particular trade. In other words, a Portuguese timber importer, associated with a Dutch maritime transporter, is trying to take advantage of a natural catastrophe (2003 summer fires in Portugal) to try and control a legitimate business in the following way:
1. Placing products in Europe with dumping prices. In fact, F. Jatoba, benefiting from the ONG moneys and other less clear methods has production costs that other Brazilian producers do not benefit from.
2. By controlling the transportation, they are able to limit the imports or impose higher freights to other competitors dealing with this same product.
American, male, born 1958. Probably now resident in Borneo, but in the past has addresses listed at 1559 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 20852 Maryland, USA (1991) and 02 Voorburgwal 266, 1012 GL, Amsterdam, Netherlands (1992). He is another Tvind financial manager and has been associated with the following companies (most likely others too): Secretary and Director, Greenpipe Management Ltd (1991), Secretary and director, All Europe Satellite Television Ltd (1992). Director, Unicorn Trans World Trading (1995). He was a signatory of the Gaia-Movement Trust, Switzerland, in 1998. Most recently (2003) associated with McCorry and Co, Luyang, Malaysia - a timber trading company.
There was a piece on Portuguese TV in 2002 which you may see following this link:
http://programas.rtp.pt/gesnews/index_e.php?cod_sec=100
We have no signs or memory of any other reference in local media about this criminal organization, on the contrary, comments from the reporters involved allege that there were pressures from some local officials to stop the investigation. The Expresso apparently has no knowledge of it, the ads keep popping-up week after week.
Some follow-up of this file from the media, might eventually have discovered in Portugal the same trading pattern which led to the fraud and money laundering prosecutions already advanced in other European countries. A possible example of EU discoordination, both from police forces and public prosecutors.