On Tuesday, police in the Yucatan resort town of Playa Del Carmen found two Canadians, a man and a woman, dead in a condo. Both had their throats slashed. Police initially wouldn’t identify them, but said that the two were not tourists.
A day later, Montreal media reported that the man, Raphaël Huppé, 44, had been in Mexico for at least four years, apparently fleeing various criminal cases in Quebec. For years, Huppé had been described as a scammer who had run fraudulent investment schemes.
He was also a Scientologist.
In 2006, Maclean’s magazine wrote about two local Scientologists who were behind an $11 million class-action lawsuit against a Quebec school board over ritalin. One of them was Huppé, who was calling himself the head of research for the Montreal-based “National Parents Association.”
“The NPA is a fledgling, two-man operation with a number of volunteers. George Mentis, the NPA’s president, works alongside Huppé. Both men are open about being Scientologists when asked, although they deny the church has anything to do with the NPA. Scientology, they say, is simply their religion,” Maclean’s said in a well-researched story that explained Scientology’s long war with psychiatry.
By 2014, Huppé was getting press for criminal convictions as a fraudster, and he’d been ripping people off apparently for years.
“Huppé is described in several court decisions as a man who pretended to be a successful investor, but serious questions concerning whether he was legitimate emerged as early as 2008,” the Toronto Sun reported.
Most recently, a warrant for his arrest had been issued in 2016 when he failed to appear for a case that had him facing 15 criminal charges, “including five counts of fraud, following an investigation by the RCMP,” the Toronto Sun said.
A year later, in 2017, a snapshot of Huppé’s personal website was stored at archive.org. “An accomplished entrepreneur from the Montreal area, Raphael Huppe is a rare find indeed: somebody who puts all of his passion in everything he does, with an ultimate goal of improving the world around him and creating a positive change that can be felt far and wide,” the website states. The site appeared to have no updates newer than 2016.
Huppé was found in Mexico with a 38-year-old woman named Fannie Lorrain, whose throat had also been cut. Lorrain appeared to be a fitness instructor who described herself as a travel blogger. A report in the tabloid Sun says that local police claim that Huppé and Lorrain had gotten involved in local weapons and drug trafficking in an area plagued by violent gang crime.
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Valerie Haney’s case in court today
Over the last few days we’ve been updating you on the latest in Valerie Haney’s derailed lawsuit against the Church of Scientology. Valerie is suing over the abuse she received as a Sea Org worker and afterward, when she says she was surveilled and libeled following her escape from the church. Scientology, however, convinced Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard Burdge that contracts Valerie had signed obliged her to take her grievances to Scientology’s own brand of “religious arbitration,” and he denied her right to trial more than two years ago. Valerie has tried to have that decision overturned in numerous tries, but they have all failed, and so today’s hearing is to update the court on why no arbitration has taken place.
Judge Burdge has moved to another courthouse, so Valerie’s case will be heard for the first time today in the courtroom of Judge Gail Killefer. We told you earlier that Valerie’s attorneys are hoping Judge Killefer reconsiders Burdge’s ruling in light of a January decision in a similar case, the lawsuit brought by Danny Masterson’s accusers, that overturned a similar arbitration order. Scientology countered that Judge Killefer isn’t in a position to reconsider Burdge’s ruling.
Both sides say they haven’t made progress on arbitration because of a stalemate of communication. Scientology says Valerie has to personally communicate with the church’s “International Justice Chief,” Mike Ellis in order to get the process going. But Valerie considers Scientology to be her abuser; her attorneys say they have tried to get information on her behalf, but the church refuses to work with them. We’ll be interested to see if Judge Killefer finds that Valerie not only has to submit to Scientology arbitration, but also has to do it without the help of her attorneys.
Scientology is asking Judge Killefer to dismiss the lawsuit for Valerie’s failure to make any progress on the arbitration.
On Wednesday, Valerie’s attorney Robert Thompson made a last-minute filing to describe the current situation for Judge Killefer. We thought you’d went to see it in some length:
First and foremost, Mr. Forman conveniently ignores that Plaintiff’s fundamental First Amendment rights are at stake if this court ultimately forces her to participate in religious arbitration with a religion she now rejects as a condition of receiving civil justice. His recitation of the history presumes that courts can be co-opted by religious organizations to enforce a jerry-rigged system where believers are permanently trapped. Miss Haney’s efforts to avoid being coerced into religious services are derived from her bedrock fundamental rights that would inflict such a religious services arbitration, causing irreparable harm.
AdvertisementPer the Bixler decision made clear, religious believers, including Plaintiff, have fundamental rights to reject and escape a religion and a court violates the First Amendment by coercing a plaintiff back into the religious fold.
Pursuant to its response to Plaintiff’s writ, the Court of Appeal encouraged reconsideration of the order forcing religious arbitration in light of the Appellate Court’s constitutional conclusions expressed in the Bixler opinion.
Even so, Plaintiff, through counsel, has attempted multiple times to communicate with Mr. Ellis, the “International Justice Chief” for Defendants and Defendants’ attorneys about commencing this religious arbitration. To date, Mr. Ellis has never once responded to our communications.
When Plaintiff’s counsel attempted to determine the scope and specific procedures governing this forced religious arbitration through Defendant’s counsel, Mr. Foreman directed us to Mr. Ellis, who again, refuses to communicate with us.
Plaintiff, through counsel, has asked for the procedures that will take place during the arbitration, not merely how many arbitrators will be there. Contrary to what Mr. Foreman believes, Plaintiff does not know the procedures and rules governing this forced religious arbitration. She has not been a part of Defendant’s religious organization for several years after escaping from them.
Plaintiff has asked for information concerning, for example, will there be a court reporter or videographer, where will this so-called arbitration take place, who can be present, what witnesses can be called, will there be opening remarks by counsel etc. All of these questions remain unanswered.
Mr. Foreman repeatedly claims that Plaintiff has not expressed in writing her desire to engage in forced religious arbitration. She has not because it is a violation of her First Amendment Rights, but through her attorneys, she has expressed a potential willingness to engage in religious arbitration and has repeatedly ask for information in order to commence same.
In summary, Plaintiff understands that she has been court ordered to forced religious arbitration. Plaintiff, through her counsel, has attempted to get the procedures and protocols to commence same from Defendants numerous times. Instead, Defendants have refused to communicate with Plaintiff. Despite Defendants insistence on Plaintiff’s claims being religiously arbitrated, Defendants are demanding she go through the process blindly whether she “wants” to go through it or not.
Why are Defendants doing this? Because if this religious arbitration commences, Defendants will:
a. Deny her the ability to bring her lawyers with her;
b. Not allow the arbitration to be under oath;
c. Not allow the arbitration to be audio, video and/or in any other way recorded;
d. Plaintiff will be held in an non-neutral location;
e. Plaintiff will be forced to enter a Scientology building, many of which are surrounded by armed guards, without anyone accompanying her (in other words being forced to walk into the lion’s den where she was held captive and abused for years);Advertisementf. Forced to be interrogated by the very people who harmed her and are trained to treat her as an enemy per their doctrine; and g. Forced back into a religion she is no longer part of; just to name a few.Plaintiff is not a member of Scientology. Plaintiff has never participated in forced religious arbitration in Scientology. Plaintiff has never seen a forced religious arbitration in Scientology or elsewhere. In other words, despite Mr. Foreman’s Declaration to the contrary, Plaintiff knows nothing about the process for this religious arbitration despite repeated requests for same. To recite language that says one arbitrator will be appointed or potentially two, does nothing in the way of informing the Plaintiff or her counsel of what will take place during this forced religious arbitration. In facts, Defendants have not even responded with how to commence the arbitration process, yet now they want Plaintiff’s case dismissed because it has not commenced to date.
Again, counsel for the Defendants still refuses to answer the most basic of information which neither the Plaintiff nor her counsel know the answers to:
a. Where the religious arbitration will be held;
b. Who will be present;
c. Is a court reporter/videographer permitted;
d. Are counsel allowed to be present or participate;
e. Proposed dates for said arbitration;
f. Length of said arbitration;
g. Process/rules/procedures by which the religious arbitration will be conducted.
Lots for Judge Killefer to consider today. We’ll have a correspondent on the scene, and we hope to get you a report as soon as possible. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 8:30 am Los Angeles time.
UPDATE
We just heard from Jeffrey Augustine, who was in court this morning to witness a hearing that was otherwise conducted remotely.
He was in the courtroom of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gail Killefer, who was talking to attorneys who had called in — William Forman for the Church of Scientology, and Robert Thompson representing Valerie Haney.
Jeffrey says the hearing lasted all of five minutes. He said that Thompson cited the stunning January ruling in the Bixler case, and Forman said that the case should be dismissed because the plaintiffs hadn’t moved forward.
Judge Killefer had only one question: Had Valerie submitted in writing a request for arbitration to the International Justice Chief, Mike Ellis, as the agreement stipulated?
No, she hasn’t. (As we said previously, Valerie considers the Church of Scientology to be her abuser and has not wanted to deal directly with Ellis or anyone else from the organization.)
Judge Killefer gave Valerie one week to follow the agreement’s stipulation and write to Ellis. She continued the matter to next week, July 1.
So now, Valerie Haney has a decision to make. Does she write a letter to Scientology’s IJC requesting an arbitration, or risk her lawsuit being dismissed next week?
Our thanks to Jeffrey Augustine being there to watch this for us.
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New TV series in Hungary
Our man in Hungary, Péter Bonyai, let us know that a new TV series featuring him and produced by Diana Dudas is coming out on YouTube starting today. Here’s the trailer…
The first episode will be out today, and the other five will come out on successive Fridays. They will be in Hungarian with English subtitles.
And here’s part one…
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“A few days ago I decided I would look young. Well, how do you look young? All you do is take flesh off certain planes of the face. This is what artists do in making faces old or young. So, I selectively ran incidents until the planes of the face were smaller. Oddly enough you run out tiredness also when you do this. You can actually select off certain pieces of flesh, and change your appearance. You have with this technique the power of changing your own physiological being. You go on up, theta line running, and you have another choice: You can change beings. You could! Of course you have been growing and nurturing this body, and you are somewhat attached to it. But it is just as much an object as this eraser, and your existence with this body is something like going around holding this eraser all the time, and saying, ‘I’m the eraser.’” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 24, 1952
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“TROUBLE: The fastest possible way for a senior to get into trouble is to fail to get in Ethics on a downstat junior. The US ‘solves’ all this with huge government pay offs and propitiation. And look at the upsurge of riots. Capitalism works only on the reward side. It takes two sides to make a game. If an I/C lets Ethics go out on his juniors he pulls the rug out from under himself — and slaughters the juniors also. A team is composed of teammates. Those who mess up the team aren’t teammates. The decline of the FSO and FAO WHY is really — the seniors let ethics go out on their juniors and sought to be ‘good fellows.’ This dumped the lot back onto me. The VFP of our 3 orgs is not juniors who think their seniors are good fellows. And it isn’t ‘good fellows’ either. Effective SO Members is one of our VFPs. We have some. We will have more.” — The Commodore, June 24, 1971
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“There have been big efforts to solve the mystery of the Third Parties on the independent field. The big outpoint has always been OSA’s false reports, false information and black propaganda furnished in bigoted websites. Indies resorting to those websites to attack other indies should be considered OSA collaborators.”
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1998: Charlotte Kates reported her experience with Scientology’s “net nanny” software, which prevents Scientologists from accessing critical materials on the Internet. “The $cientology net nanny which Scientologists agree to use is hidden on the CD they receive in their packet of information about the Scientologist On-Line program. The CD contains three choices–the first, creating your spam page using the program CSI gives on the CD, second, creating online ‘FSM selection slips’ to email to your selectees, who will take them to the Org they go to, landing the web-page-creator 15% of his purchases there, and third, installing Netscape Communicator and setting up your web page. This third choice is, as specifically mentioned in the packet, not to be chosen until after your page has received ‘Issue Authority’ from CSI. The third button installs the net nanny, hidden in the Netscape InstallShield. It is an invisible program in My Computer or Windows Explorer and cannot be viewed by pressing control+alt+delete. It is insidious, showing up on every 32-bit Internet program on a computer. When entering mIRC channel #scientology, those on-channel tested the nanny. We found that certain nicks were invisible (such as ‘alerma’ and ‘zinjifar’) and that whatever they wrote was visible in the mIRC status bar and not on-channel. Everyone else, filter-free, clearly saw their writing in the channel screen. Certain words, when typed by myself or others, would cause me to be immediately kicked from IRC, including: Xenu, xenu.net, Wollersheim, Erlich, Grady Ward, Keith Henson, freezone and several others. Many words were invisible to me when others typed them, and invisible to others when I typed them, a long, long list including most ars’ers names, and also, ARS, A.R.S., and alt.religion.scientology, and other words such as: the unbelievable deletion of the word ‘picket’, clambake, Hemet, Gilman Hot Springs, Mark Ingber, Helena Kobrin, Kendrick Moxon, really nearly every critic and/or ex-member’s name, from Roland Rashleigh-Berry to Graham Berry, and anti-cult people like Steven Hassan and Rick Ross. On the Web, sites such as xenu.net, entheta.net, lermanet.com, xs4all and csj.org (the AFF site) were completely blocked, whole domain names which also hosted critics’ sites were blocked, dejanews.com was blocked. When reaching an unblocked search engines, all disliked domains would be listed as such: ‘home.inreach.com’, became ‘ . . ‘ Just dots with no words..Other words, contained in an unblocked or new page, would cause a page to stop loading. For example, about 1/4 of a web page would load, and the filter would then hit the word, for example, Hemet, and stop loading. One of the more interesting effects was its word chopping. For example ‘NOTs’ is a blocked word. This meant also that ‘not sure’ became ‘ure’, and that ‘not surprised’ became ‘urprised.’ Any configuration of ‘not’ and ‘s’ was deleted. Also, in honor of ARSer ‘Anima’, the word ‘animal’ became, simply, ‘l’. I hope to post a far more complete list of ‘bad words’ later. To any Scientologists reading, of course, 16-bit programs or Win98 kill it.”
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“An ice cold martini sure sounds better than lukewarm vodka and lemonade”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Next pretrial conference June 30. Trial scheduled for October 11.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Last hearing was on January 18, referred to grand jury. Additional charges also referred to grand jury after January 5 assault while in jail.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Readiness hearing scheduled for August 22 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for September 19.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Found guilty of criminal and civil contempt.
Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Complaint filed April 28 in Tampa federal court.
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Eleventh Circuit affirmed ruling granting Scientology’s motion for arbitration. Garcias considering next move.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Valerie’s motion for reconsideration denied on March 15.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Next hearing scheduled for June 29.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Third amended complaint filed, trial set for December 6.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: New trial ordered after appeals court overturned prior ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON
We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.
After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] His son may rule moneyed Scientology, but Ron Miscavige needs help to pay for his own funeral
[TWO years ago] Danny Masterson’s Scientology upbringing: An interview with his former stepdad, Joe Reaiche
[THREE years ago] YouTube permanently shutters channel that exposed Scientology’s bigotry
[FOUR years ago] Coming soon, our collaboration with ‘Miss Lovely’ herself, Paulette Cooper!
[FIVE years ago] Scientology watchers, one mile high: HowdyCon 2017’s big night is here
[SIX years ago] Scientology stealth opening: Tomorrow, David Miscavige will dedicate two buildings in Florida
[SEVEN years ago] A rundown on the truth being delivered at the Toronto Scientology conference
[EIGHT years ago] UP THE BRIDGE: We finally reach ‘OT 8’ — but was its first version really a hoax?
[NINE years ago] Laura D to Scientology: It’s Too Late for a Protective Order in Forced-Abortion Case
[TEN years ago] Scientology Plays Denver’s Police Chief Like a Violin[ELEVEN years ago] Janet Reitman: An Interview with the Author of Inside Scientology
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,705 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,210 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,760 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,750 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,641 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,947 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,816 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,590 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,921 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,394 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,710 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,276 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,195 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,363 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,943 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,205 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,241 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,956 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,481 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 836 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,011 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,562 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,711 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,031 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,886 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,005 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,361 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,664 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,770 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,168 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,044 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,627 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,122 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,376 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,485 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on June 24, 2022 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2021 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2021), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | 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 | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | 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
Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.
Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele
Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
