'10 questions and answers on Humana'
BUNNIK, 24th of july 2002,
On the 24th of july 2002 Humana Holland gave a press conference following two items on Dutch tv Netwerk about Tvind. Netwerk presented a secret memo, in which two top members of the Teachers Group plan to move money away to Denmark earned with the collection of clothes in Holland and other European countries, making it look like the money is being spent on development projects. The memo was also mentioned in the Dutch newspaper Eindhovens Dagblad.
In reaction on the tv-broadcasting Humana decided to go public. A part of the organisations reaction is listed here below in what Humana presents as 10 questions and answers on Humana. Where thought usefull Tvindalert comments on the answers given by Humana.
1. What happens with the clothes that are being collected by Foundation Humana in Holland?
Humana: a part of the collected clothes (30 percent) is being sorted out. There are different qualities: winter clothing, summer clothing, clothing with shop quality and clothes that are being sent to Africa. From the rest of the clothes the garbage is being taken out and the clothes are being originally packed.
The biggest part of the clothes are sold to traders, for instance in Holland and Eastern Europe.
The rest of the clothes are being donated to selling-projects in de African countries Angola and Zambia.
Tvindalert: according to Humana the biggest part of the clothes are being sold to traders, for instance in Holland and Eastern Europe. The question is: why Humana doesnt mention here that these traders are usually, if not always, companies which belong to the organisation itself, the Teachers Group. Companies, which have usually connections with accommodation adresses in tax havens, such as Jersey where the tax level is only seven percent. In fact, Humana is selling the clothes to itself and the spin off doesnt end up in development projects in Africa, but on bank accounts from the Teachers Group in tax havens.
An example of such a company is the textile trading company ConMore BV in Holland, which buys the clothes from the European Humana-organisations. ConMore is, just as Humana Holland, managed by two members of the Teachers Group: Birgit Dinesen-Jensen and Flemming Gustafsson. Gustafsson is charged with money laundering in Belgium, for several million euros.
Gustafsson also during many years managed the predecessor of ConMore BV, a firm called Textile Transformation EC Trading BV, in Amsterdam. This company suddenly went bankrupt in may 2000, with a debt of all together five million guilders. The reason of the bankrupcy: four firms on tax haven Jersey and one in Ireland, which were the most important buyers from EC Trading BV, stopped paying for the textiles. Those firms were all in charge of the Teachers Group, just as EC Trading BV and now ConMore BV. Some of those Jersey-firms went into bankrupcy almost immediateley after the bankrupcy of EC Trading BV, allthough in 1998 and 1999 yet they payed all together two million dollars in dividend to the mother company on Jersey: Coriander Holdings Ltd. The receiver was refused any information on this firm by the Teachers Group, but the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende revealed this year august (2002) that Tvind-leader Amdi Petersen was in control of Coriander Holdings Ltd.
After two years the receiver of EC Trading is succeeding in getting back about fourty percent of the debts of EC Trading. But not after he threatened the Teachers Group he would make the ministery of Justice do a thorough investigation on the firms and their bankaccounts on Jersey. And only after two years the Teachers Group admitted that EC Trading was a Tvind-company, after two years of denial, we read in the receivers report.
So, what kind of charity is this??
2. What is the Federation and why was is established?
Humana: The Federation is a umbrella organisation for all of the fundraising and executing development organisations. Foundation Humana is a member of the Federation. Joining organisations work together on a base of autonomy en decide for themselves which services of the Federation they want to use.
Tvindalert: also the Federation is in charge of the Teachers Group. According to the memo in Netwerk and Eindhovens Dagblad it seems the Federation which is deciding what happens with the money earned with the collection of the clothes. According to the Danish police and the Danish historian, Tvind-researcher Jes Fabricius Möller, it is the top of the Teachers Group (Amdi Petersen) taking all the major decisions.
3. How can Foundation Humana be sure that the donations given to the projects, are being used for the purpose they are ment for?
Humana: the projects which Humana supports in Zambia, Angola and Mozambique are established from several sources. The first are the donations of Foundation Humana. The second source is the income from the selling clothes in that country. A part of those clothes have been donated by Humana. The third source are different partners, including international organisations, companies, Unicef and the World Food Programme, USAID, Horizon and Texaco and local governments.
The accounts of every individual project are being checked by a large, well-known international accountants office, KPMG in Mozambique and Zambia and Ernst & Young in Angola.
Tvindalert: Why doesnt Humana actually donate the clothes in Africa? Many people in Africa have to live from a dollar a day or less. How can these people afford to buy clothes?
Humana claims to have some kind of relationship with other development organisations. But in fact some of these have complained more than once that they dont want to be mentioned in relationship to Humana. Nevertheless, Humana goes on giving the impression that there is an actual relationship with some of these organisations.
What goes for the check up by the international accounts offices: look at the Enron fraud-case in the United States and similar affaires. At the Enron-case on of the leading world accountants-firms, Anderson, got incriminated. The office ordered the shredding of thousands of incriminating documents and got sued for obstructing the course of justice. In Holland in august and september 2002 there is a huge parlementiary investigation into construction fraud by construction firms. It appeared accounts (from KPMG) knew about false invoices but never did anything to prevent this from happening and because of this the Dutch tax-payer was the victim. So, a yearly according from the financial books of Humana by any well-known international account office doesnt prove anything. The only thing is says is that the books are okay on paper.
4. How much of the donations of Foundation Humana is being used for salary of projectleaders who are a member of the Teachers Group? How much salary do they receive?
Humana: last year Foundation Humana donated 3,4 million guilders to 25 projects in Africa. From the supporting projects thirteen are being managed by international project leaders. The other twelve are being managed by local project leaders. The Federation uses the salary scale referring to the UN-standard to calculate the salaries of the international project leaders. These salaries vary between 35.000 up tp 60.000 euros (including allowances). This can be compared with the salary of someone in Holland with a comparable responsibility.
About 18 percent of the total costs of a project is being used on salary for the international project leader. This project leader is of crucial interest to make sure the project is executed well.
Tvindalert: secret Tvind-documents in the possession of Netwerk and Eindhovens Dagblad tell another story. One of the documents shows a budget over the year 2000. The total amount of money there is estimated on 115.000 million Danish kroners. From these 115.000 million kroners, according to the document, 75.000.000 million kroners should be spent on salaries of project leaders. Only 2 million kroners were estimated to be actually spent on the projects itself. That is less than 2 percent of the budget. According to Humana these documents were only fictive and just a subject of discussion within the Teachers Group.
5. Does anyone have to be a member of the Teachers Group to become a project leader?
Humana: No. The Foundation Humana nor the Federation forces anyone to become a member of the Teachers Group to get a higher position in the organisation. Whenever there are vacancies there will be decided to put the best person on the right spot given the circumstances. Experience teaches however that having the social background of the Teachers Group is decisive, to be able to spend the necessary time in the project.
Tvindalert: So this would imply that other development organisations abviously put people in charge who do not spend enough time in doing their job, allthough receiving a normal salary.
6.. Does anyone has to give up a part of his salary to be able to become a member of the Teachers Group?
Humana: First of all the Federation and the Teachers Group are two different things. The Federation calculates the salary based on the work dat is being done en pays this to the personal bankaccount of every employee, like any other company. Foundation Humana and the Federation dont interfere with the way the employee spends the money. When someone is a member of the Teachers Group, he or she takes a part of the salary which is necessary for living. The rest is going to a joint money-box. This is totally out of free will.
Tvindalert: The Federation is being managed by the Teachers Group, just as at least 95 percent of all the Humana-organisations. Foundation Humana-chairman P. Jensen admittted this during the press conference. So, what is the real difference between the two?
According to several ex-members of the Teachers Group they never received their salary personally. Its possible that they had a bank account on their name, but most likely they didnt have any acces to it. According to them their salary always went straight to what Humana calls the joint money-box. And this wasnt out of free will. As a member of the Teachers Group they didnt have any choice in this matter. If they had expenses, they had to ask for money, or they received a very small amount of pocket money from someone higher in the hiarchy of the Teachers Group.
7. Foundation Humana is deceiving the public because the organisation doesnt tell she is being managed by the Teachers Group. How independable is the organisation really?
Humana: Foundation Humana is not being managed by the Teachers Group or any other group, except for the trustee of Humana itself. It is an independable organisation, because it kan and will do whatever is best for the organisation itself.
To guarantee the independancy Foundation Humana has agreed with the conditions of the Central Bureau Fundraising: 2/3 of the trustee is independant, 1/3 is being appointed by the Federation. Mr. K.S. Dahne en mr. P. Jensen are being appointed by the Federation. Mr. J. Verlinden, T. Scholten, E. Fonck and M. Holman are independant members of the trustee.
We have got nothing to hide.
Tvindalert: Mr. K.S. Dahne, who is living in Berlin, is a member of the Teachers Group. He is the treasurer. Mr. P. Jensen, who now workes for the Federation in Zimbabwe, is the chairman of the trustee and also a member of the Teachers Group. He claims that anyone can become chairman of a Humana-organisation, but he admits that in fact the chairmen or chairwomen of the Humana-organisations are members of the Teachers Group. Also in Holland the most important positions in the trustee, the chairman and treasurer, are in the hands of the Teachers Group. Why doesnt Humana tell this frankly?
8. A former member of the trustee, Eppo van Veldhuizen, accuses Foundation Humana that it didnt want to turn over the responsibilities to a complete independant trustee. What is your reaction to that?
Humana: Mr Van Veldhuizen was member of the trustee in 1997 and 1998. At that time there was a discussion about how the structure of the organisation and the trustee should be. Up till then the trustees of both foundations (Humana Re-use and Humana Fundraising) consisted of totally ten persons, of whom three with the Dutch nationality. At that moment Humana began to realise, that it would be good for the organisation, because of the cooperation with so much Dutch municipalities, to have a more Dutch and independant trustee. This was the reason to ask mr. Van Veldhuizen to become a member of the trustee. Step by step Humana worked on having a more independant trustee to ensure the continuity of the organisation.
The discussion with mr. Van Veldhuizen wasnt about having or not having a independant trustee, but the question how quick it would have to be installed. Now, four years later, Foundation Humana has an independant trustee according to the CBF-conditions.
Tvindalert: Mr. Van Veldhuizen, former vice-chairman of Humana, tells tvindalert (and Dutch television) another story. According to him he wanted to become the new chairman after the Humana-chairman, a member of the Teachers Group living in Berlin, stopped. But according to Van Veldhuizen him becoming the chairman wasnt even possible to discuss with the Teachers Group. Another member of the Teachers Group, coming from Sweden, came in charge.
Second of all Van Veldhuizen strongly advised Humana to let the Vereniging Nederlandse Gemeenten (VNG, a society of Dutch municipalities) appoint two members in the trustee. After all, Humana has an important relationship with a lot of municipalties, explains Van Veldhuizen, who was the mayor of Oss before he became vice-chairman of Humana Holland. But also this Humana wasnt prepared to do.
9. The Teachers Group is a secret cult. You are deceiving the public by not telling this.
Humana: according to the definition of the word cult, the federation nor the Teachers Group is a cult. There is no joint religion and there are no secret rituals.
Look at the work of the Federation: 6.000 employees and 3.000 students. 120 projects in direct contact and working together with the local population. More than 750.000 people involved. Websites, reports, publications. What is secret about it?
Hundreds of people have decided to put in all their energy into development work in Southern Africa. And they do a good job. If anyone doubts this, he or she can visit the projects, like recently the trustee of Foundation Humana has done.
Tvindalert: almost everything about the Teachers Group is secretive. They never tell where the money really is going, dont tell that clothes from the public are being sold to commercial companies from the Teachers Group which cream of a huge profit in Eastern Europe instead of profit for the Third World. Mr. Petersen, the founder of the Teachers Group, had been hiding for more than 22 years when he was arrested by the FBI at a Los Angeles airport. There is too much to tell, but reading different articles and other information on the Teachers Group gives a pretty good impression of its real intentions.
The founder of the Teachers Group, mr, Petersen, Tvind and Humana, is in jail. He, and others in Denmark are being charged with tax evasion. Why doesnt Humana end the relationship with these people?
Humana: There are no connections between mr. Petersen and Foundation Humana and/or the Federation. Mr. Jensen (chairman of Foundation Humana) has followed the case: The man indeed has been charged, but is not being sued and surely not convicted. Allthough there is a lot of fuss, the case has little content. Its about a foundation in Denmark which supports projects for humanitarian causes, research and protection of the environmental surrounding. A part of the money has been used on the fight of Aids in cooperation with the Federation and other money has been used on other projects. The board of the trustee is convinced of the fact that all the money is being spent according to the legal rules and a number of experts agrees with that. The Danish authorities however think that the gifts are not tax deductable. In my opinion this case could have been solved easily, just like any other tax matter.
Tvindalert: First of all there IS a connection between mr Petersen and Foundation Humana and the Federation. Mr. Petersen is the founder of Tvind and leader of the Teachers Group and all its activities, according to the Danish historic Jes Fabricius Moller, the Danish police and former members of the Teachers Group. So he is also in fact the boss of mr. Jensen, chairman of Foundation Humana in Holland.
According to the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende mr. Petersen was in control of the Jersey-company Coriander Holdings Ltd, where millions out of the European clothes recycling disappeared instead of being spent on the poor in Africa.
The fraud case in Denmark is being described as a bagatelle by mr. Jensen, but that is not according to the facts. The facts are that the Danish police executed her biggest inquiry after the Second World War. According to the police 111 million Danish Kroners have been embezzled instead of been used on supporting projects. And because of this the tax deduction on the money was also illegal. Alltogether eight members of the Teachers Group are being charged with fraud and embezzlement. And that is nothing like a bagatelle.
Tvind Alert would like to know the names of the experts who Humana claims agree with the Danish trustee of the Humanitarian Foundation, which without doubt is being managed by the Teachers Group. The same Teachers Group which runs the Federation which got a part of the money from the Humanitarian Foundation. So the Teachers Group gave money to the Teachers Group.