November 27, 2004
A MULTIMILLION-dollar superyacht moored on the Broadwater was linked to an accused cult leader facing fraud and embezzlement charges in Denmark
Mogens Amdi Petersen was called a hard man to track down.
After all, he once went missing for 22 years.
When he seemed to slip off the face of the Earth in 1979, most people saw Petersen as a throwback to the 1960s — a charismatic do-gooder out to help the Third World.
The Danish teacher espoused Marxist-Leninist principles, set up radical teaching colleges in his homeland and sent young disciples to Africa.
Then, one day, he disappeared.
Despite this, the `charitable’ causes he founded didn’t miss a beat. In fact, they grew stronger — much stronger.
Some people started calling the elusive boss a cult leader.
Others wondered whether the millions of dollars were reaching the right places.
All wanted to know where they could find Mogens.
Petersen had access to luxury homes dotted around the world, had a multimillion-dollar Florida apartment just for his dogs and enjoyed the use of an elegant superyacht. At 40m, it was once the biggest fibreglass luxury vessel in the world.
If you took a stroll to the Broadwater that weekend you could see it for yourself in all its three-masted, teak-inlaid glory.
Named Butterfly McQueen, the Bermuda rigged schooner was previously owned by Tvind offshoot the Teachers Group.
Petersen was acquitted in 2006 but the case was appealed — he remains at large today and as of 2016 was understood to be living underground in Mexico.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/remember-when-a-yacht-moored-on-the-broadwater-was-linked-to-a-denmarkbased-cult-leader/news-story/536ade0a01152a13a518a8f82840ec43