T5PC

Article summary

T5PC (or The 5 Percent Community) was a controversial Norwegian Multi-level marketing company that went bankrupt in November 2004. As per November 2004, it had among 50,000 members (most papers claim 70,000, however) it is claimed that its members lost as much as 1 billion NOK ($160 million), thus making it one of the biggest economic frauds in Norwegian history. An investigation was undertaken by Økokrim. Bankers complained that they had alerted Økokrim about problems with T5PC as early as summer 2003. In 2006 Økokrim indicted 4 people involved with T5PC for breach of trust with fraudulent intent. It was founded by Aleksander Anderson who changed his name from Wolden to Anderson after going bankrupt in Norway. Some of the main individuals responsible, including Henrik Ellefsen and Jørn Ronnie Tagge, were convicted on charges of fraud in December 2007.

Key claims

1. date of birth: 1971-06-20 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. date of birth: 1969-06-02 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
3. members: 50,000 members — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of birth is "1971-06-20". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the date of birth is "1969-06-02". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. The record states that the members is "50,000 members". What evidence would count against this claim?
5. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
6. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1345503805