Tony Ortega is a journalist who was formerly the editor of The Village Voice. He's written about Scientology since 1995, and in May 2015 released a book about Scientology's harassment of Paulette Cooper titled 'The Unbreakable Miss Lovely.' He continues to monitor breaking developments in the Scientology world from an undisclosed location in an underground bunker he shares with four cats and one of them wrinkly Shar Pei dogs. Despite his super-secret security protections, you can still reach him pretty easily by sending him a message at tonyo94 AT gmail.com (Drop him a line if you'd like to get an e-mail whenever a new story is posted.) [Header image courtesy John Rickard]
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Rizza Islam defiant as his trial on Medi-Cal fraud begins today

 It’s been more than seven years since we first broke the news at the Underground Bunker that several Scientologists were facing felony charges for an elaborate scheme to defraud California’s Medi-Cal health []

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AUDIO: Nation of Islam’s Louis Farrakhan says Rizza Islam is accused of ‘horrible charge’

[Rizza and Farrakhan in happier times]

This week we heard from multiple current and former Nation of Islam members who told us that on Wednesday they were called in for an all-hands ‘Believers’ Meeting’ at their local mosques in order to view a video address from leader Louis []

Rizza Islam’s sisters plead no contest, leaving him last facing trial in Medi-Cal fraud case

[Rizza got a boost from ABC last year]

Nearly seven years ago — seven years! — we broke the news that several members of Scientologist Hanan Islam’s family had been charged with felonies. California state investigators alleged that the Islams had been ripping off the Medi-Cal program with the use of a jackleg Scientology Narconon drug []

Hanan Islam, 62: Faced felony counts for insurance scam run out of Scientology clinic

[Hanan Islam and her son Rizza]

A memorial service for Hanan Islam has been scheduled for Saturday to take place at the gymnasium at Compton College in Southern California. Her son, Ronnie “Rizza” Islam, announced on his Instagram account on Sunday that his mother died after a ten-year battle with colon cancer. She was []

What is it going to take for the LA Times to take the threat of Rizza Islam seriously?

[Rizza Islam gets the Alex Jones endorsement, August 3]

Alex Jones admitted that he was envious. On August 3, the guest on his Infowars program was Rizza Islam, who, we told you earlier, had been named one of the 12 biggest sources of online disinformation about []

Hanan and Rizza Islam get trial date for $4 million Medi-Cal fraud at Scientology rehab

 We have numerous legal updates for you today, starting with some news we’ve been waiting a long time to hear: Finally, there is a trial date set for Hanan and Rizza []

YouTube runs interference for Scientology and its Nation of Islam bigot problem

[Scientology Freedom Medal Award winner Tony Muhammad]

The Underground Bunker recently received a notice from YouTube that one of our videos has been taken down without recourse. We were informed that this removal will not count against us as a “strike,” but our video did not meet YouTube’s “community standards” and so it has gone poof []

Once again, Scientology celebrates a Nation of Islam bigot tonight in Los Angeles

 Scientology is very quick to label those of us who have exposed their controversies and abuses with the word “bigot.” You’ve seen them call us that countless times. They throw it at Leah Remini and Mike Rinder and so many others. So for that reason this flier for tonight’s “graduation” celebration at the Hollywood Celebrity []

Scientology and Nation of Islam figure picks worst week to rail against measles vaccine

 Rizza Islam picked the worst possible time to go on tour spreading misinformation about vaccines used to prevent the spread of []

Nation of Islam takes a bigoted swipe at Leah Remini and the ‘Jews’ behind her show

[Tony Muhammad is a recipient of Scientology’s highest honor, the ‘Freedom Medal’]

Nation of Islam figure and Scientology Freedom Medal winner Tony Muhammad was apparently pretty unhappy about Leah Remini’s recent episode about the strange relationship between the two []