Who is benefitting…by doing nothing?
Who is getting
hurt…by doing nothing?
What Are You Going to Do?
Michèle and Kelly O’Donnell
Michèle and Kelly O’Donnell
The only thing necessary for corruption to
flourish is for "good" people to do nothing about it—or to do some non-resolute
“thing” and to move on, with consciences placated and livelihoods protected.
This Update continues the call for assistance
from the people and organizations affected by the Nordic Capital Investment KB
fraud (NCI). Those “affected” refers to investors-victims, organizations-ministries, staff-leaders, and any others who received/lost money in this
scheme or were somehow involved. It also refers to the thousands of people who are or were part of these
organizations-ministries and who have a moral responsibility to call their
leaders to account: to disclose, conduct independent reviews, and where there
are “net positive” gains, to return money to victims.
NCI, and
the lack of response to it by those in the church-mission community (CMC), have
seriously damaged many peoples’ lives. It has also seriously compromised the reputation
and witness of the CMC. The Update shares background and current
information to remind you why getting accurately informed and calling for
action are so essential—and why doing nothing is so damaging.
Did you know that the
Swedish court documents (released in 2010 and 2011) indicate that it was primarily
Christians, Christian organizations, and Christian ministries that were affected
by NCI? Some of the main ones were part of Youth With A Mission (YWAM), including
Mercy Ministries, Le Rucher, and Mercy Ships. Youth For Christ Switzerland was
used as an address for one of the main NCI promoters for NCI activities and Crossroads
Church in Ferny-Voltaire, France had many members who heard about and invested
in NCI.
And so we ask:
Who is benefitting by doing nothing?
Who is benefitting by doing nothing?
Who is getting hurt
by doing nothing?
What are you going
to do?
Some NCI Background and Updates
--NCI began
in 1994 and functioned secretively as a ponzi scheme until it was publically
confronted in 2007. We (Michèle and Kelly O’Donnell) were some of the first people who blew the whistle with others and who
contacted governments about NCI in July that year (FBI in the USA, Serious
Fraud Office in the UK, Fraud Police in The Netherlands, and Economic Crimes
Bureau in Sweden). A short overview about our involvement as victims is posted
on the PETRA People website HERE. See also the initial 10 point overview
about NCI at the top of the PETRA
People website (this website also contains several documents from
the Swedish court case, analyses, anti-corruption resources, etc.).
--An initial
investigative review was done by a business consultant, Rand Guebert (2008). It
is 120 pages and focuses on the serious problems in organizations affected by
NCI including poor organizational governance and the discrediting and wrongful
dismissals which we ourselves experienced in the CMC. Its findings related to
NCI (based on the known evidence/documents at the time) are supported by the
Swedish court documents that were released later in 2010 and 2011. This review
has been shared with government investigative bodies although it has not yet
been shared publically.
--The
Swedish government (Economic Crimes Bureau--EBM) was the principle government
that eventually took the lead to investigate (2008-2011). It prosecuted only one
person, Kristian Westergard, the founder of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Sweden.
The Swedish EBM determined that NCI was a long-term, gross fraud and sentenced
Mr. Westergard to prison where he served a term for just over two years. Mr.
Westergard was required to repay several of the victims listed in the case. But
since he had very few traceable assets, very little money has been ever repaid
to the 20+ plaintiffs. Other people who were affected by the fraud (net-positives)
were not required to return money (by the governments or by their respective
CMC organizations-ministries). Nor were there any prosecutions for other persons
involved with Westergard/NCI (some perhaps innocently). Millions of dollars/Euros are still missing.
--The Shine the Light-Together petition (2012-current, with over 200 signatures) and the PETRA People
Network weblog (2011-current, with 39 entries) were set up to help the CMC and
the public understand corruption in general and the NCI case specifically. They
have been emphasizing that different
Christian organizations were and are “affected” by the fraud—specifically, that
leaders and staff invested, benefited/lost money, ministry projects received money
etc. The reluctance of these leaders and organizatons to disclose and to submit to
independent investigation has also been hihglighted. Their information
could shed crucial light on what was happening with this fraud and by whom, and
likely go a long way to preventing similar things though the lessons learned
and bring healing.
--In August
2014, 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 and that they inform other leaders in their organizations.
Leaders in Youth With A Mission, Mercy Ships, Youth For Christ, and Crossroads
Church (Ferney-Voltaire, France) received separate email-letters regarding
the petition with the names and comments of the people who signed it. The letters were then posted on the PETRA People weblog
in September 2014 along with subsequent correspondence (Click here to see the paper trail: (August 2014--current). Note that specific names of leaders are listed again in the February
2017 weblog entry along with links to other organizational leaders and Board
members who have a moral responsibility to assist and hold themselves and
fellow leaders accountable.
--In
December 2016 there was a renewed effort for people to read, sign, and share the
petition. “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.”
--YWAM
especially with its staff, leaders, and ministries was affected, including
Mercy Ships while it was still part of YWAM and afterwards. According to the
Swedish court documents, Erik Spruyt (a major/former YWAM leader), Mercy
Ministries organizations in four countries and Le Rucher in France (originally
all part of YWAM), and two personal/family foundations set up by Mr. Spruyt with
bank accounts in Lichtenstein (GF, NGF) were some of the entities that received
hundreds of thousands of dollars/Euros of NCI money. Mr. Spruyt maintains that he is
innocent and that he was a victim. In January 2017 there was a civil court
decision in France which did not find Mr. Spruyt or Mercy Ministries France
(defendants) responsible for the financial damages experienced by six NCI
victims (we and four other plaintiffs). Although all plaintiffs totally disagreed with the
court ruling, they decided to not appeal. We are committed to continue the public and
moral call for assistance so that those affected by NCI will follow good practice standards via verifiable disclosures,
independent reviews, transparency, accountability, and integrity.
*****
So we ask you...cui bono?
Who is benefitting
by doing nothing?
Who is getting
hurt by doing nothing?
What are you going to do?
The only thing
necessary for corruption to flourish is for "good" people to do nothing about it—or to
do some non-resolute “thing” and to move on, with consciences placated and
livelihoods protected.
*****
You can make a difference.
Join with others around the world by signing and sharing the petition below.
Join with others around the world by signing and sharing the petition below.
Shine the Light--Together!
An international petition calling for integrity and action
to confront corruption in the church-mission community
and in particular the international NCI et al. fraud.
Read it, sign it, share it!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/shine-the-light-together/
An international petition calling for integrity and action
to confront corruption in the church-mission community
and in particular the international NCI et al. fraud.
Read it, sign it, share it!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/shine-the-light-together/
*****
PETRA People Network
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