UFF Sweden 1

 

from Dagens Nyheter, Sweden,  29 December 2001.

[in Swedish]     [in German]

Huge amounts of money are channeled into the world wide Tvind-movement,  despite the clothes-collector being near bankruptcy.

by Juan Flores and Nuri Kino

UFF, the clothes collector, is threatened with bankruptcy having 136 complaints of missing payments and 4,5 million Swedish Crowns (304,000 ) in debts.   Dagens Nyheter publishes today documents showing that UFF of Sweden is part of a world wide empire of billions, led by the Dane Mogens Amdi Petersen, who disappeared 20 years ago and is wanted [by the police].    He is suspected of serious tax fraud.

A smaller part of the clothes UFF collects in its well-known containers are sold by eleven second hand stores in Swedish towns. But the biggest part of the clothes collected in Sweden is exported and sold in stores in Estonia. A greater part of the money is channeled into the Tvind movement controlled by Amdi. Behind this there are lots of companies hiding in tax paradises.

The associations of UFF in Sweden have peculiarly few members. What looks like independent charity associations are in fact a centrally ruled business activity, led from the Danish head office.

In order to show their seriousness, UFF has got a "90-account"  [In Sweden used by acknowledged charity-organisations].  But most of the money collected goes other ways within UFF. The around thousand [coin]  collecting cans UFF has placed in stores and restaurants are not emptied in an acceptable way.    Instead they are emptied by a man called Gran.   UFF doesnt seem to know his surname.

Big debts in spite of income of millions.

UFF [in Sweden] is being chased by the [tax] enforcement officer.  Its debts are almost 4,5 millions (304,000) and bankruptcy is close, even though clothes donated by the Swedish people are sold for hundreds of millions of Swedish Crowns (millions of pounds).   How much of the surplus goes to charity - and where the rest goes UFF refuses to disclose.

In recent years UFF has owed  the head of the tax enforcement district millions.  Its debts are almost 3,6 million Swedish Crowns (243,000) in employer fees and taxes and about 800 000 Crowns (54,000) to suppliers. The association has received 136 complaints of missing payments and has been threatened with bankruptcy a handful of times. The investigation made by Dagens Nyheter shows that the organisation should reasonably be able to pay its debts.

Last year the Swedish public donated 8900 tons of clothes and shoes through the collection in the yellow UFF-containers.    Most of the clothes were sold to a sister organisation of UFF, Humana Baltic Estonia and to the clothes agent Garson and Shaw.     Humana Baltic sold the clothes further to around ten shops they run in Estonia.

UFF in Sweden refuses to disclose its income but states that about 20 million Swedish Crowns (1.35     million) have been earned through the sale to the eastern countries.

Humana Baltic has got more than that. According to our sources familiar with the activities, more than 4000 tons of clothes, have probably been sold further for a price of 30 to 60 Crowns (2p to 4p) per kilo. That would give an income of a quarter of a billion Crowns (16,900).   UFF doesnt run any development projects in Estonia, it is pure business with a surplus that is not going back to UFF but into the international UFF, Humana People to People.

UFF sells clothes exactly the same way in Africa, even though the clothes are donated in the first place. There the selling of the clothes to different sister organisations might have given additional tens of millions Crowns (hundreds of thousands of pounds) that has gone into Humana as well.

According to UFF in Sweden the surplus from the clothes sales goes to  to development projects. This is something that many people with experience of development work find hard to believe. Especially if you consider that UFF/Humana collect and sell clothes from some 30 countries around the world.

An African source with a good insight into the activity says that in Lubito alone, a harbour town in Angola, some 12000 tons of clothes from different Humana/UFF-associations were put on the market last year. In the capital, Luanda, UFF has its biggest economical activity with 30 000 tons of clothes sold yearly, he says.

At present UFF in Angola receives about 15 Crowns (1p) per kilo for the clothes sold, which would mean around 600 million Crowns (40.5 million) per year.

It is hardly believable that the whole surplus would go to the development projects

"There is no possibility to control it either, as they dont give such information," says the same source in Africa.

Humana runs more than 150 small scale development projects, that according to a source in a development organisation could cost approximately around 200 million Crowns (13.5 million) per year. The nine projects that UFF [Sweden] supports directly and that are exposed in their annual report are of that kind, small scale and with a budget of 600 000-700 000 Crowns (40,000-50,000). In addition, this cost is shared with different state development organisations, as e.g. Swedish Sida [state development aid association].. Those nine projects cost UFF 3,2 million Crowns (216,000) in year 2000.

In fact, there should be a huge surplus even after the development projects have been paid.  Swedish UFF has consequently refused to explain how this surplus has been used.

"Every UFF- association is independent and has to explain how they use their own means," says Thomas Gregersen, chairman in UFF in Sweden.

What responsibility do you have for how the donations of the Swedish people are used?

"Each association has got auditors who review the business," he answers.

Gregersen also has difficulties in explaining why the board of directors during many years made budgets that they have not been able to keep and in that way squeezed incomes out of the association.

"There has been a crisis in the second hand business. We are on our way to work out our economical problems," he says.

Sect lives on Swedish clothes.

Every time you put clothes into a yellow UFF-container or shop in a UFFs second-hand store you support the building of the world wide empire that has been called Tvind.   It is led by the mysterious Mogens Amdi Petersen, who was this spring charged with tax fraud and is wanted by the Danish police.

UFF in Sweden has been able to deny all charges so far.   "UFF is totally independent from Tvind and the Teachers Group", is claimed by both vice-chairman Trond Narvestad and chairman Thomas Gregersen, only a few weeks ago.

They have tried to avoid responding on whether they are members of the Teacher Group and have called it a private matter that has nothing to do with UFF.    The only official connection between UFF and the Tvind movement has been that UFF uses their schools to educate the volunteers that are sent to work at development projects in Africa. This is due to a lack of alternatives for that education.

But look at the fax (published here)

It was written by Trond Narvestad 1999 as a reply to a request from a group of employees who wanted to increase the openness and democracy of the organisation. They wanted an association of many members, that was ruled by democratic yearly meetings.

The fax was to "TG in Sweden" and is crystal clear: TG (Teachers Group) must not lose control of UFF. Narvestad wants an organisation that secures the flow of money to TG, from both "large accounts" and small incomes. One should give the impression of being part of a Swedish tradition. I  n reality all UFF-associations in Sweden are ruled by the same five-six people.

Therefore it is only on paper where UFF is a independent organisation all who are in the board of the business are members in TG and under direct orders.

Today Dagens Nyheter also publishes a document showing the connection between Swedish UFF and the sect leader Mogens Amdi Petersen.    Every year UFF sends rather big amounts of money, according to themselves it is about 100 000 Crowns (6,750), to the Net Up association in Ulfsborg, the cradle of the Tvind movement. Net Up is a recruiting body of Tvind/TG and the address of the invoice is the same as the one Mogens Amdi Petersen and ten more top names of Tvind uses as their official address:

 

The "90-account" is used for the sake of appearance.

UFF has got a "90-account".   It should guarantee that the donations are used in the right way. But for year 2000 UFF accounts only for around 103 000 Crowns (7,000) in the 90-account which is just a fraction of what they earn.

Included in this 103 000 Crowns, was 50 000 Crowns (3,500) donated by the association of Development Aid Volvo employees.

"We donated the amount to a special project," says chairman Sigvard Kunni, who is surprised that UFF lets the money go unmarked into the '90-account'.

"That is not what we were promised."

UFF has got around 1000 [coin] collecting cans in shops and restaurants, but despite that it says on the cans that the association has got a "90-account", the money is not put there when emptied, but into other accounts within the organisation.    Last year around 400 000 Crowns (27,000) were collected through the collecting cans, says deputy chairman Trond Narvestad.

The emptying of the collecting cans is not handled in a correct way says Frii, the Non Governmental Organisations Collecting Council. That is one of the reasons why UFF is denied a membership in the trade organisation.

"When the cans are emptied there should be two persons at the place and the money ought to be recounted in a special way. UFF doesnt do this", says Erik Zachrisson, chairman of Frii.

In fact it seems like UFF doesnt even know who empties the cans. Someone  called Gran drives around full time emptying the cans, but what the surname of this Gran is, is not possible for either UFF in Gothenburg nor Stockholm to inform about.     Neither do they inform how to get in touch with him.

According to Thomas Gregersen, the chairman of UFF, it is not strange at all that the money collected doesnt go into the "90-account".

"Having the 90-account makes all our other accounts possible to be controlled by the Foundation of Control of money Collections (SFI). We do not have to use especially the '90-account' ", says Thomas Gregersen.

Why do you want to have a 90-account if you hardly use it?

"We want the SFI-stamp, it shows that we are serious", he says.

Among the members of Frii it is unusual that the 90-account is not used when collecting with cans.

Lars Sandberg, the director of SFI, admits that there has been questions from different directions about UFF.

"But our checking leans on the fact that all organisations has got an auditor that goes through the economical activity and accounts it to us in the way we have agreed on. UFF does that", says Lars Sandberg.

Unclear organisation makes checking difficult.

Not only does UFF put the way the money is used into shadow, they also keep double originated associations and misdirecting presentations which makes the insight difficult.

UFF is built with associations in many layers and uses sort of a concern show of accounts which is unusual for charity associations. One association cannot own another.    Anyone who wants to know something about the accounts of the business gets the report of UFF in Sweden.    Nowhere  is it said that UFF is a movement worth billions or that most of the clothes are sold in the east.    And anyone who wants to get hold of the annual financial presentation of UFF in Stockholm is in real  trouble. That is where the business is.     No one eceptmembers are able to get hold of it.    And being an association UFF has got very few members.    Trond Narvestad says there are 19 members in UFF divided in two associations. Ten of these members are in the board of directors.   According to Thomas Gregersen there are 65 members in total in both associations.

"In the yearly meetings only the board of directors attend and a few more persons", says Sven Dahne, member of the board of UFF in Sweden.

Dagens Nyheter repeatedly asked Thomas Gregersen to take part of the annual financial accounts report but in vain.  On a direct question Thomas Gregersen has chosen to answer how big the incomes and expenses of the association are. It is about 80 million Crown (5.4 million) in earnings for year 2000, he claims. They come partly from the sales in the second hand shops and partly from the sale of the clothes in east.

By choosing the concern show of accounts for the associations, UFF is able to conduct what information to make public. The result is that UFF in Sweden show assets that are in UFF in Stockholm.

"We have done this to separate the money-raising association from the business activity.  Why we include information from UFF in Stockholm in the presentation of UFF in Sweden is because we want to give a picture of our business", says Tohmas Gregersen.

As UFF is run as a non-profit association with a goal for the common good, the business gets tax reductions. As the surplus is not stated in the accounts there are no possibilities to actually see if the business really is non-profit.   There are lots of commercial companies tied to the mother organisation Humana People to People.

Per Olov Johansson, judge on PRV (Patent and registration organ) is very critical of the organisation of UFF.

"To call a business an association means that it has not the same oversight, that the public authorities cannot check in the same way as a limited company. One can also question why UFF with shops is not obliged to pay tax on the income," he says.

One more strange thing is that the persons that are said to be on the boards of directors of UFF are not doing this according to official lists. Every time there are changes made to the board, this ought to be reported to the authorities but this has not been done in many years. Those running UFF are not shown at all in the official lists. With only one exception, people named have left ages ago. Among them a 72-year -old lady who Dagens Nyheter has contacted. She gets very upset over being set as responsible for the business.

"We have no obligations to report alternations of the board", says Thomas Gregersen at first.

Then he says that they will put that error in order.