Uniting Against Corruption and NCI
International
Anti-Corruption Day
Logo for 9 December 2016
"...the time has come to make [the fight against corruption] a
truly global effort among evangelicals....if the church becomes more vociferous
in its opposition to corruption...then we must beware of the risk of hypocrisy
if our own house is not put in order first....We must not turn a blind eye to
or condone corruption....Christians must take care that they are not
unwittingly complicit in someone else's corruption, no matter how innocent the
motive or scheme may at first appear." Salt and Light:
Christians' Role in Confronting Corruption (Lausanne Global
Conversation, 31 October 2011)
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This entry continues the call to
the international church-mission community (CMC) to practice the highest standards
of transparency and accountability. It specifically encourages people to unite
and confront the Nordic Capital Investment KB fraud (NCI) which has seriously damaged
many peoples’ lives and the reputation of the church-mission community (CMC).
Part One features the United Nations International Anti-Corruption
Day (9 December), now in its 14th year. This special Day raises public awareness
about the widespread reality of corruption and offers ideas for practical ways
to fight it. Part Two offers a strategic
opportunity to fight corruption: unite with others to review, sign and share
the Shine
the Light-Together petition as part of the renewed effort to confront the
NCI KB fraud. This renewed effort stems from the unheeded requests for assistance
(verifiable disclosures and independent reviews) by leaders in four of the
organizations affected by NCI. The requests were sent in August 2014. Specific names of these leaders are listed again below along with links to other organizational leaders and Board members who carry a special responsibly to assist and hold themselves and fellow leaders accountable.
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Part One: International
Anti-Corruption Day (IACD)
Corruption undermines moral
integrity and destroys people. IACD a superb way to come together globally,
nationally, and locally in order to and promote integrity, confront corruption,
and protect vulnerable people. The excerpts below list practical ways to act
against corruption on IACD and in ongoing ways. They are from the UN
Development Program (UNDP) and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
“Fighting corruption is a global
concern because corruption is found in both rich and poor countries, and evidence
shows that it hurts poor people disproportionately. It contributes to
instability, poverty and is a dominant factor driving fragile countries towards
state failure.
Governments, the private sector,
non-governmental organizations, the media and citizens around the world are
joining forces to fight this crime. The United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
are at the forefront of these efforts. The 2016 joint international campaign
focuses on corruption as one of the biggest impediments to achieving the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To mark the 2016 International
Anti-Corruption Day (IACD), UNODC has developed a wide-ranging campaign focused
on different SDGs and on how tackling corruption is vital to achieving them.
We hope you'll come together with
UNDP and UNODC to fight against corruption by:
--Organizing creative activities in your community to mark 9 December
utilizing the "Call to Action Matrix" for ideas.
--Tweeting about International Anti-Corruption Day to let the world
know what you are doing to tackle this scourge (and remember to use
#UnitedAgainstCorruption and include @UNDP and @UNODC in your message so that
we can help share this).
--Like our Facebook page, adopt the logo as your
profile picture and encourage others to do the same.”
"But legislation alone cannot make organizations open
and healthy. Only the character and will of those who run them and participate
in them can do that….If a culture of collusion exists instead of a culture of
candor, participants will find ways around the rules, new or old, however
stringent. (p. 8). But at any time an
organization makes a seriously wrong decision, its leaders should call for an
intensive postmortem. Such learning opportunities are too often overlooked. The
tendency is simply to call on the public relations department to spin the mater,
to make another inadequately thought-out decision, and perhaps to scapegoat, even
fire, a few staff members." (pp. 22-23) Transparency: How Leaders Create a
Culture of Candor (2008). Warren Bennis, Daniel Goleman, James
O'Toole, and Patricia Ward Biederman
Part Two:
NCI Update
United
Against NCI
“A Swedish Christian businessman and former YWAM leader defrauds friends,
family, and missionaries of millions of dollars….The NCI case exposes a harmful
trend growing within the worldwide church 16 years after the collapse of the
New Era fraud….‘No one is immune. We have to keep these cases in front of
believers. They’re lulled into a false sense of security [quoting Dr. Todd
Johnson].’ If defrauded investors have their way, Sweden’s verdict won’t be the
last one involving NCI…”
Logo for the
petition: Shine the Light-Together
It has been over nine years since
the NCI KB fraud began to be publically confronted (July 2007). It has also
been over two years since four of the organizations included in the Shine the
Light-Together petition and several of their leaders were formally
presented with the petition, asking for their assistance. Leaders in Youth With
A Mission, Mercy Ships, Youth For Christ, and Crossroads
Church (Ferney-Voltaire, France) received separate email-letters in August
2014 regarding the petition with the names and comments of
100+ people who signed it.
Requesting Assistance Again from Specific Organizational Leaders
The letters requesting assistance
were sent to specific leaders in August 2014 with the additional request that they inform other leaders in their organizarions. The letters were then posted on
the PETRA
People weblog 28 September 2014. Below are the names of the leaders contacted
and links for additional leaders/Board Members, etc. (Click
here to see the paper trail: (August 2014--current).
--Youth With A Mission: Loren Cunningham, Darlene Cunningham,
Lynn Green, Jim Stier, Tom Hallas, Iain Muir, and YWAM leaders/staff around the
world. “We would be grateful if you (YWAM leaders/staff around the world) would
carefully review the petition and Statement with links to core documents.” Click here to view
the list of international offices from the organization’s website, many which
link to specific leaders.
--Mercy Ships: Donovan and Mae Palmer. “We would be grateful if you
could please review the petition and its links to core documents and share it
with members of the international Mercy Ships Executive
Committee and others Board members (e.g., Don Stephens as President,
Myron Ullman as Chair, Rosa Whitaker, Francoise Andre, Ian McColl, and Peter
Schulze as Vice-Chairs, etc.). Click here to
view the list of International Board Members and the Executive Committee from
the organization’s website.
--Youth For Christ: Geordon Rendle and John Duncan (and with Larry
Williams in 2015). “We also believe it
would be very important to share the petition with other board members/officers
at Youth for Christ and the previous staff at YFC in Coppet, Switzerland.” Click here to view the
list of International Board Members from the organization’s website.
--Crossroads Church (Ferney-Voltaire, France): Larry Lloyd
and Ian Rutter. "We would be grateful if you could please review the
petition and its links to core documents and then share the petition with other
current/former elders and officers at Crossroads and current/former members and
attendees at Crossroads.” Click
here to view the list of elders, officers, and pastors from the
organization’s website.
We are not aware of any further
action undertaken by organizations to investigate and disclose how they may
have been affected by NCI KB in line with the specific concerns in the
petition. A few individuals over the past months have sent personal
emails, but nothing official and nothing related to taking any action. Click
here to see the paper trail: (August 2014--current). We thus continue
the resolute, public call a) for assistance from all those affected
in various ways by the NCI fraud; and b) for verifiable
disclosures/independent reviews (transparency and accountability) by four
of the organizations listed in the petition. It would also be in keeping with good practice for transparency, accountability, and organizational health that these organizations thoroughly review how they have and/or have not actually dealt with the requests for assistance over the years.
In light of the above, there is now a
renewed effort for more people to read, sign, and share the STL petition. The petition contains three paragraphs:
“This petition is a call to many
organizations and people, especially in the church and mission community (CMC),
to assist by transparently and verifiably disclosing how they have been affected by Nordic
Capital Investment KB fraud (NCI). In addition, members of these organizations (past and
present), donors, and the public are asked to help by respectfully and
resolutely calling for the assistance of those affected by NCI. ”
“NCI began in 1992 and began to be publically confronted in 2007. An
important part of it was successfully prosecuted in Sweden (2010-2011)
and declared to be a longstanding fraud. Only one person was prosecuted and
imprisoned, however--a Swedish man. There are thousands of pages of court
documents (available to the public in 2010-2011) that shed light on the far
broader aspects of this international fraud. Millions of euros and dollars are still missing. See the core
materials/links on this site for more information.”
“Corruption such as the NCI KB fraud does
not simply go away on its own, over time, by ignoring it, or by keeping silent. All
of us can and must act with integrity--the consistent, highest level of moral
wholeness. And we can and must hold our organizations and leaders accountable
to do the same. This petition is a key tool to help.”
We are thus calling upon people to unite
and to resolutely call upon their organizational leaders to provide verifiable
disclosures and authorize independent reviews. People can also disclose
what they know and how they have been affected. It is crucial to model good
financial practice and integrity, for one’s own sake, the sake of one’s
organization, the church-mission community, and the general public. Unite against corruption and NCI. You can access the petition here: Shine the
Light-Together Petition.
“Don't be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So don't hesitate to go public now. Don't be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There's nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life-body and soul-in his hands." Jesus Christ (Mathew 10:26-28,The Message)
“Don't be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So don't hesitate to go public now. Don't be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There's nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life-body and soul-in his hands." Jesus Christ (Mathew 10:26-28,The Message)
PETRA People Network
PETRA People Network was set up in
2010. We are committed to promoting peace, transparency, and
accountability in all sectors of society and especially in the international
Christian community. Our general focus is on preventing and confronting
corruption and on promoting personal and organizational integrity. Our specific
focus is on the Nordic Capital Investments KB fraud (NCI).
