Sten Byrner

Tvind Alert

1 month ago

SHOPPING WITH AMDI. Finally, our summary of BT’s article series on Tvind, from last month, which began with new video footage of Amdi Petersen and two top aides shopping at a Costco supermarket in Ensenada, on Mexico’s Baja coast.

Sorry to have taken so long with this. But the translation of seven of BT’s nine articles took a few weeks. Then came the task of boiling down and summarising. Then we contributed many further details for a more complete perspective. We were also waiting to see whether we could get a copy of an internal Tvind ‘vision statement’ document that BT obtained and reported precious little about. So far, no luck. ... See MoreSee Less

Tvind Alert

3 months ago

BY THOR’S HAMMER, WHAT A SAVINGS. This week, the Danish newspaper B.T. published a story with video footage of alleged cult kingpin, Mogens Amdi Petersen, and two high-ranking aides shopping at a Costco in Ensenada, Mexico.

The video was shot by Thomas Vann Altheimer in October 2019.

Petersen is founder and leader of the Tvind Teachers Group, and for the past 14 years he and four of his top aides have been wanted by the judicial authority of their native Denmark for serious financial crimes. Since August 2013, the five have been listed on the Interpol website's 'Red Notices' database for wanted persons.

The two women shown with ‘Amdi’ are Ruth Sejerø-Olsen and Marlene Gunst, who — since 1992 and as far as we know, still — form the cult's 2nd-level management, 'TG Finance', directly below Amdi and his girlfriend, Kirsten Larsen.

Amdi, Gunst, and Larsen are three of the five TG leaders who are Interpol-listed fugitives.

Ensenada is a 145 km/90 mile drive south of San Diego. Tvind's high-security, luxurious headquarters, 'TG Pacifico', lies 72 km/45 miles further south on the Baja coast. Amdi and several senior TG members are known to have been living there at least part-time for several years.

B.T. has also posted several follow-up stories this week, and we’re now working on a summary article in English. For the time being, non-Danes can at least watch the video! ... See MoreSee Less

Tvind Alert

11 months ago

THE GOOD FIGHT. After three years, Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting finally speaks out: “Planet Aid’s actions in its lawsuit against Reveal are a manifest example of what deep-pocketed interests can do to a news organization even when the facts are on the journalists’ side.”

Reveal is to be commended for standing up to corporate bully Planet Aid, which is Tvind’s largest used clothing collector in the United States. Clearly, Planet Aid’s frivolous libel lawsuit is a desperate attempt to use litigation to silence the legitimate criticisms in Reveal’s excellent reporting.

Reveal isn’t alone. In the past, TvindAlert’s editors, too, have endured libel lawsuits brought against them by different Tvind companies. But Tvind lost all of those cases.

We hope Reveal will soon have the same outcome. ... See MoreSee Less

Tvind Alert

1 years ago

WEEK IN 'UTOPIA'. Interesting account by British writer who as a young man spent a week in 1975 with the Tvind collective near Ulfborg in western Denmark. The writer, Ken Worpole, is currently a Senior Professor at The Cities Institute, London Metropolitan University.

We need to correct one glaring inaccuracy in Prof. Worpole’s account: He writes that “The Danish government has never managed to successfully prosecute any of the individuals associated with Tvind …“

Actually, two senior Tvind members have been convicted, although they got off quite lightly. The highly publicised Tvind trial began in March 2003 at the district court in Ringkøbing, Denmark. Three years later, in August 2006, Tvind leader Mogens Amdi Petersen, spokesman Poul Jørgensen, top aides Kirsten Larsen and Ruth Sejerøe-Olsen, former chairperson for Tvind's 'Humanitarian Foundation' Bodil Ross Sørensen, financial director Marlene Gunst, and lawyer Kirsten Fuglsbjerg (aka 'Christie Pipps') were all acquitted of charges. However, another former chairperson of Tvind's 'Humanitarian Foundation,' Sten Byrner, was found guilty of fraud and given a one-year conditional sentence [i.e. slap on wrist].

The Danish Public Prosecutor immediately appealed the verdict to a higher court. But the appeal is still pending for Petersen and four of the accused, all of whom fled Denmark shortly after being acquitted by the lower court.

Poul Jørgensen, who had remained in Denmark for the appeal trial, was found guilty of tax fraud and embezzlement in January 2009, and sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment. According to Danish prosecutors, Jørgensen diverted millions of dollars earmarked for charitable use into private businesses owned by Tvind leaders. Jørgensen is thought to have served only half of his sentence. ... See MoreSee Less

Tvind Alert

1 years ago

‘WE WENT THROUGH HELL’. A UK newspaper has uncovered new allegations of abuse at a Tvind-run school for troubled children in England, which operated from 1984 until 1998, when it was shut down by the authorities after the UK’s Charity Commission found 'serious financial impropriety' and investigated 'serious concerns about the safety and welfare of children.'
Pt. 1: tinyurl.com/y3drl7xz / Pt. 2: tinyurl.com/y6t44nda ... See MoreSee Less