We could not have broken the big story of felony charges against Scientologists operating a Scientology drug rehab clinic in Compton without the help of our sources. We’ve had invaluable help here in New York with the Underground Bunker’s man on the scene, Jeffrey Augustine, who lives in Los Angeles.
This week, he volunteered to get some looks at the venues we’ve been talking about. The story we revealed on Thursday was that several Scientologists are accused of running a Narconon clinic out of the World Literacy Crusade, a longtime Scientology front in Compton. Arrangements were made with three prominent local educators (since fired) to provide high school kids to the “clinic,” where they were put through Scientology exercises, and the clinic then billed Medi-Cal as if the students had been treated for drug addictions. According to court documents, this scam was running at least from 2010 to 2013 (but we found evidence that it had been using foster children as early as 2005). The clinic was raided by a state law enforcement agency in March 2014. But what’s happened to the clinic, and the World Literacy Crusade, since then? Jeffrey Augustine is our man on the scene.
With the news of Dr. Hanan Islam being criminally charged for Medi-Cal fraud, I decided to drive over to Compton to visit the two Scientology-related entities where she worked, with Rev. Alfreddie Johnson Jr. (who has not been arrested or charged with a crime): World Literacy Crusade (3209 N. Alameda St, Suite B) and American Health and Education Clinics (3209 N. Alameda St, Suite B, sometimes listed as Suite C).
3209 N. Alameda Street is located in a well-maintained, single-story industrial park. Designed for light manufacturing, industrial distribution, or service and repair companies, this is not a location one would associate with a rehab clinic, church, or literacy crusade. I mention this point because, as a sales engineer, I called on manufactures and distributors for 30 years and had many small clients in these sorts of industrial parks in Los Angeles. The choice of location seemed odd to me. It is what Scientologists would call an “out point.” Adding to this out point is the fact that Rev. Johnson’s “True Faith Christian Center” is also, according to online records, located in Suite B. However, in 2013 the Reverend Johnson announced on Facebook that he had moved his church to the Hubbard Dianetics Community Center attached to the new Scientology “Ideal Org” in Inglewood:
Despite being listed at the N. Alameda address in Internet searches, Rev. Johnson’s World Literacy Crusade is also no longer located at the Compton address. The California Secretary of State website shows World Literacy Crusade to be a suspended entity:
A search of IRS 990 forms shows that the World Literacy Crusade today is a “doing business as” (dba) of Scientologist Holly Haggerty’s nonprofit Community Learning Center Inc. located in Clearwater, Florida (EIN 59-3521809).
At some point, Rev. Johnson’s World Literacy Crusade was subsumed into the Community Learning Center Inc. But in that organization’s latest tax return, for 2014, there is no mention of Rev. Johnson or the Crusade.
World Literacy Crusade has essentially vanished legally. Despite this, the official Church of Scientology website makes this claim for Johnson’s group:
Today, World Literacy Crusade operates programs in schools, community tutoring centers and juvenile detention facilities. It has grown into an international movement, with volunteers from lands as far-flung as Australia, Greece and Africa providing individuals with the basic tools to become literate, responsible, self-sufficient and employable. After completing the literacy program, 87 percent of teens involved in gangs and drug use made the decision to relinquish their former lifestyle and embark on a productive and ethical path.
While Scientology makes that confident claim about Rev. Johnson’s Crusade, the reverend himself has apparently moved on to a new enterprise — doing business in the United Arab Emirates:
While World Literacy Crusade has vanished from Compton, I also found, on my visit, that Hanan Islam’s American Health and Education Clinics is no longer located at the N. Alameda facility. I spoke to the gentleman who today rents Suite B. He is an industrial distributor who moved in about six months ago and told me Suite B was unoccupied when he moved in. I have blurred the name of his company in this photo of Suite B:
Suite C, which also was listed as an address for American Health and Education Clinics, is empty and the signage has been removed.
A peek inside the window at the former location of American Health and Education Clinics reveals nothing more than a lonely wall socket:
As with most things Scientology, the seedy reality belies the PR: Behold the former global headquarters of the World Literacy Crusade and American Health and Education Clinics:
And here’s what it looked like in better times, from a WLC video…
American Health and Education Clinics’ website has also been taken down, and the California Secretary of State website shows American Health and Education Clinics LLC to be a Delaware corporation whose California status is, apparently, forfeited:
The California data reveals American Health and Education Clinics LLC to be a Delaware corporation with a very impressive address in prestigious Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. This Chadds Ford address is also that of The Brandywine Companies, a real estate brokerage and financial services company. Brandywine’s “People” webpage shows the founder, chairman, and the CEO of Brandywine to be Scientologist Bruce E. Moore; Moore’s Scientology service completions are extensive. Moore and his Brandywine Company are listed as members of Scientology’s business front, WISE, in 2001 and 2004.
What is Bruce Moore’s tie to Hanan Islam? It’s not clear. One thing is certain when dealing with the Church of Scientology: Things are never as they seem.
— Jeffrey Augustine.
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Bonus photos from our tipsters
Oh joy! A new Ideal Narconon drug rehab in Eslov, Sweden opened last week…
Handing out Youth for Human Rights pamphlets in Clearwater. Thanks, Legoland.
Celebrity clams Denice Duff, Nancy Cartwright, and Jim Meskimen do the selfie thing.
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BOOK NOTES
We didn’t get a chance to include photos in our book, so we’ve posted them at a dedicated page. Reader Sookie put together a complete index and we’re hosting it here on the website. Copies of the paperback version of ‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely’ are on sale at Amazon. The Kindle edition is also available, and shipping instantly.
Our book tour is concluded for now. (But you can re-experience it through this nifty interactive map!) We’ll let you know about future appearances. Previous events: Santa Barbara (5/16), Hollywood (5/17), Orange County (5/17), San Diego (5/20), San Francisco (5/22), New York (6/11), Chicago (6/20), Toronto (6/22), Clearwater (6/28), Washington DC (7/12), Hartford (7/14), Denver (7/17), Dallas (7/20), Houston (7/22), San Antonio (7/24), Austin (7/25), Paris (7/29), London (8/4), Boston (8/24), Phoenix (9/15), Cleveland (9/23), Minneapolis (9/24), Portland (9/27), Seattle (9/28), Vancouver BC (9/29), Sydney (10/23), Melbourne (10/25), Adelaide (10/28), Perth (10/30)
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Posted by Tony Ortega on December 19, 2015 at 07:15
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Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of LA attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts
PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill
The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield
