The reason is, that the Development Aid from People to People or DAPP (U-landshjælp fra Folk til Folk) charity in Malawi has links to a Teachers Group (Lærergruppen), which has been investigated by the FBI and whose leader is wanted by Interpol.
Officials revealed that British taxpayers have funded the group to the tune of 5.6 million pounds (ca. 49 mio. DKR) since 2012. All donations to DAPP have now been suspended and the Government in London is looking into the claims.
An investigation by the BBC found that the charity, which helps to train teachers in African nations, is under the control of a group founded by Mogens Amdi Petersen who is wanted by Interpol and is thought to evading an investigation by living in Mexico.
But a spokesperson from DAPP Malawi denied the claims, stating: “Over the past 21 years, DAPP Malawi’s work has reached nearly three million people in Malawi, and at no time has donor funding ever been used for purposes other than those intended and agreed with donors.”
The charity allegedly docked the wages of staff in Malawi and sent the money to Teachers Group, which recruited more teachers to pay into the Group using centres paid for by the British Government, it is understood.
The money was then reportedly funneled into offshore accounts to be used by a small group of people and was not spent on aid projects as originally thought.
Mr Petersen was tried for fraud over the group he set up in his native Denmark in the 1970s but found not guilty in 2006. However prosecutors appealed the judgement and he is now wanted by Interpol. The FBI in America has also investigated the group.
An investigation found that staff employed by DAPP Malawi, which provides education, health and agriculture assistance in the country and is funded by grants from the Government and charities like Unicef, have been asked to donate a portion of their salary to Teachers Group.
Some staff pay as much as half of their annual salary to the group, which runs a global network of offshore companies and commercial ventures.
The money is understood to be controlled by Mr Peterson and a small group of executive members of the Teachers Group, which claims to protect the staff who pay in, notes “The Telegraph”.
